EVIL FORCES AT THE END OF TIME[i]
Derek
Prince
As the present age draws to its
close, the evil spiritual forces that have been at work throughout human
history are being brought into more open manifestation. In this study we will
seek to identify and describe these forces so that we may be better equipped to
confront and overcome them. We will focus, for the most part, on the nature of
the forces at work rather than making specific predictions such as who Antichrist
will be, or how Armageddon will be fought.
CONTENTS OF THE ARTICLE
-
The Operation of "Antichrist"
-
Distinctive Marks of the Antichrist
-
The Titles of the Antichrist
-
Antichrists throughout History
-
The Motivation of
Antichrist
-
Prayer
The Last Times
I want to point out first of all that the "end time" we are speaking of is a
definite time span beginning in the New Testament days and continuing until the
return of Christ.
Ø
John says in 1 John 2: 18, "Little children, it is the last time . . ."
So we see that the "last time" had already begun in the days of the
Apostle John.
Ø
On the day of Pentecost, Peter implied the same when he quoted Joel, saying, "It shall come to
pass in the last days. . . I will pour out of my Spirit. .
." and applied it to that very time.
Ø
2 Peter 3: 18 reminds us that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years
as one day. If we take that at face value, it means that just a little under
two days have elapsed from the day of Pentecost until now. That
makes it easier to understand that the people in the book of Acts were already
in the last days, or the last time, and that we still are in the last time today.
The Antichrist
To begin our study, there is one
distinctive key word which brings into focus all the evil forces that have been
released and are to be released in this end-time period. That word is "antichrist."
The key Scripture to me is I John 2: 18-22:
“Little children, it is the
last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even
now are there many antichrists; 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 of us.
But ye
have an unction [or an anointing] from the Holy One, and ye know all things.
I have, not written unto you because
ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth.
Who is a liar but he that denieth that
Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.”
The Operation of "Antichrist"
It is important to
understand the meaning of the word "antichrist."
Ø
It comes from a compound Greek word
made up of the preposition anti and the Greek word for
Christ which is Christos.
-
The preposition anti has two distinct meanings in Greek. The
first is “against.” The second is “in place of':” To fully
understand what we are dealing with, we have to include both meanings:
first, "against," and second, "in place of."
-
Then the Greek word Christos means "anointed. " The word directly corresponds to the Hebrew word Messiah which
is used in the Old Testament and means the "anointed one." It
is normally translated "Messiah." It is amazing how many
Christians and Jews are ignorant that when we say, "Jesus Christ," we
are saying, "Jesus, the Messiah. "
Ø
The various lines along which
Antichrist operates are all summed up in the meaning
of the name.
-
The initial thrust of Antichrist is against the
true anointed One, Jesus the Messiah. The first operation is
to get rid of the true Christ, Jesus
of Nazareth. But that is not all.
-
The end purpose is to replace Him with
someone else. That is where the second meaning of anti
comes in - in place of.
We cannot fully understand
what is going on in the spiritual realm unless we see that
Satan's first operation is to remove Jesus, the true Anointed One, but
that his ultimate purpose is to replace the true
Messiah with a false one-the Antichrist.
Once we grasp this, we
realize that in many churches today antichrist is
already hard at work.
Ø
I have a friend who is a member of a
certain denominational church. Eight years ago he said to me, "Derek, in
our church Jesus is a dirty word. You can talk about Buddha, you can
talk about Plato, you can talk about Martin Luther King, and
everybody's happy. But if you talk about Jesus, everybody gets embarrassed." What is that?
Ø
That is the first operation of the
spirit of antichrist - eliminating the true
Christ. But what those people, and millions of others, fail to
realize is that the process will not end there.
The ultimate purpose of Antichrist is
not merely to get rid Jesus: it is to replace Him by another.
Religions in the Mediterranean Area
In the
Mediterranean area, which in many ways is the focus of end-time prophecy, there are three main
religions:
è Christianity, Judaism and Islam.
Each believes in one God.
There is only one major barrier that keeps them from uniting: that
awkward historical character, Jesus of Nazareth.
If Satan could persuade the Church that we could do all right with a
nice form of religion that did not embarrass people by emphasizing the need for a blood sacrifice and
the unique claims of Jesus,
the way would be open for a coalition of those three religions.
Ø
It is my personal opinion
that this is what Antichrist will achieve.
Certainly a major sphere of his activity will be religion because that is the
field where Satan is most at home, and where his greatest threat to
humanity lies.
The Forms of Antichrist
Antichrist
is spoken of in three distinct" forms.
1.
1 John 2: !8 says, "Little children, it is the last time: and as
ye have heard that antichrist shall come. . ”
-
Here Antichrist is the title of one specific
person. Then it says,
2.
".. . even now are there many antichrists." In
addition to one specific person who is the Antichrist, there are many
antichrists. If we want to know what they have in common, we have to look at 1
John 4:2-3.
Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: every
spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ [the Messiah] has come
in the flesh is
of God;
And every spirit that confesseth not that
Jesus Christ [the Messiah] has
come in the flesh is
not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye hace heard that is
should come; and even now already is it in the world.
3.
In addition to Antichrist as a person, and many antichrists or many
persons, there is
-
the spirit of antichrist which
operates in all antichrists. Bear in mind that the spirit of antichrist cannot operate anywhere that the gospel has not
really been preached.
-
Antichrist is different from paganism because the spirit of antichrist ultimately is a deliberate
denial of the claim of Jesus to be the Messiah. If that claim has never
bee presented, there is no scope for the operation of Antichrist.
That is why antichrist
pertains distinctively to the last age:
Ø
in the previous ages the claims of Jesus had not been preached. But where
the claim of Jesus is preached the door is open for the spirit of antichrist.
Distinctive Marks of the Antichrist
The spirit of antichrist has four distinctive marks which are all given in 1
John. The first is stated in 1 John 2:
19:
1.
“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.”
-
The first mark is
that antichrist begins in association with the Church.
-
This further confirms that antichrist
cannot arise where the gospel has not been preached.
2.
The second mark of the spirit of antichrist is
that it denies that Jesus is the Messiah. 1 John 2:22 says,
-
“Who is a liar but he that denieth
that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist. . . ."
3.
The third mark of antichrist is the denial of the persons of the Father and the Son within the Godhead.
-
The second half of verse 22 says, “He is
antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son." Antichrist
will not acknowledge the Father-Son relationship in the Godhead. It does not deny God, but it does deny the Father and the Son.
4.
The fourth mark is found in 1 John 4:2-3:
“ . . Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ [the Messiah]
is come in the flesh is of God:
And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ [the Messiah] is
come in the flesh is
not of God: and this
is that spirit of antichrist.
. . .”
Ø
The fourth mark is that the spirit of antichrist denies that the Messiah
has come.
Ø It does not necessarily deny there will be a messiah. In fact, it may exploit that
truth to its own advantage. But it denies that the
Messiah has already come.
Let me summarize those four
marks:
- First, antichrist begins in association with the Church.
- Second, it denies that Jesus is Messiah.
- Third, it denies the Father and the Son.
- Fourth, it denies that Messiah has come.
The Titles of the Antichrist
The New Testament uses three
other titles to describe the Antichrist.
2 Thessalonians 2: 3-8 says:
-
“Let
no man deceive you by any means [deception is Antichrist’s primary tool]:
for that day [the day of the Lord] shall not come, except there come a falling
away first [the Greek says apostasy - which is a deliberate turning away from
revealed truth] and that man of sin [lawlessness] be revealed, the son of
perdition.
-
Who
opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is
worshipped; so at he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that
he is God [he does not deny God; rather, he claims to be God] .
-
Remember
ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
-
And now ye know what withholdeth that he
might be revealed in his time [what restrains to keep him from being revealed
before his time] .
-
For the mystery of iniquity [lawlessness]
doth already work:: only he who now letteth
[restrains] will let [restrain] until he be taken out of the way.
And
then shall that Wicked [lawless one] be revealed, whom the Lord
shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the
brightness of His coming:. . . .”
We are here given two more
titles for Antichrist:
-
the lawless one, or the man of lawlessness, and
-
the son of perdition.
Only one other person in
the New Testament is called the son of
perdition: Judas Iscariot. The significance is that Judas was an
apostle and he betrayed the Lord.
-
This again is confirmation that the Antichrist begins in association
with the disciples of the true Christ. But
he is a traitor.
There
is one other title which is found in Revelation
13:
And I. . . saw a beast. . .like unto a leopard …
And they
worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast,
saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?
I prefer to translate this
word "wild beast." It suggests fierceness
and cruelty. Certainly this will be one characteristic of the Antichrist - he
will be cruel.
So we have three other titles:
-
the lawless one, or the man of
lawlessness;
-
the son of perdition; and
-
the wild beast.
Antichrists throughout History
History reveals many
antichrists.
I understand that the
Jewish Encyclopaedia names more than FORTY ANTICHRISTS
who have arisen amongst the Jewish people since the time of Jesus.
Ø
One of the best known was Moses of Crete who, in about the third or
fourth century of our era claimed to be the messiah. Promising to take his
followers back to the land of Israel, he led them out into the sea and they
were all drowned. It was ridiculous, but also tragic.
Ø
In essence, the concept of the messiah in
Judaism is one who will give the land back to the Jewish people and enable them
to rebuild the temple. Any man who could achieve that would certainly be acclaimed
by many Jews today as their messiah.
In the history of
Christendom, there have also been many antichrists.
Ø
Mohammed - One of the clearest examples is Mohammed. Mohammed
arose out of the context of Christianity. He
was familiar with the teaching of Jesus, and he
acknowledged that Jesus was a prophet. But he denied that Jesus was the Son of
God.
-
When a
Moslem says, "I believe in Jesus," he does not mean, "I believe
in Jesus as the Son of God"; he means, "I believe in Jesus as a
prophet."
-
Being aware of Jesus and His c1aims,
and yet denying them, is the essence of antichrist.
Today many followers of Mohammed
claim that he was "the comforter" whom Jesus whom promised He
would send. Again
Ø
Hitler - Again, I would say, without any doubt, that Hitler
was an antichrist.
-
Certainly he had the cruelty of a wild
beast. Yet multitudes of Germans saw him as their savior.
-
Nazi textbooks of German history referred
to Hitler's brief period in prison as his "crucifixion."
Von
Ribbentrop said of him. "He
is the Holy Spirit."
Where
the spirit of antichrist moves in,
è
it gives
men supernatural control over others.
-
There was nothing
in Hitler as a person in his own right that would give him any
claim to influence or authority. He was an insignificant little failure as a
man.
-
But when that spirit of antichrist
moved in, it enabled him to throw whole continents into
turmoil and to be responsible for the death of countless millions of people.
Let
us never forget that cruelty is part of the very nature of antichrist.
Ø
Mau Mau - Another small-scale antichrist that I encountered personally in
Kenya, East Africa, was Mau Mau.
-
Many people
do not know that Mau Mau arose out of
Christian missions.
-
Almost all the leaders of Mau Mau received their education from mission schools. When
"they started Mau Mau, they continued to sing the very hymns that the
missionaries had taught them, taking out the name of Jesus and substituting
that of a political leader.
-
That is the essence of antichrist: setting aside Jesus and replacing Him with another.
Theoretically, Mau Mau
arose in opposition to white colonialism. Yet in actual fact more white people were killed in traffic accidents
in Nairobi than were killed by Mau Mau.
Ø
On the other
hand, thousands of African Christians were brutally slaughtered
by their fellow Africans in the cause of Mau Mau.
Ø
No matter what mask antichrist may wear,
his real enemy is Jesus Christ and all who are identified with Him.
And antichrist has the ferocious
cruelty of a wild beast.
The
Motivation of Antichrist
The
supreme motivation of Antichrist is rebellion. He is the lawless one.
Let me show you the first manifestation of that spirit
in Isaiah 14: 12-14.
How art thou
fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! [It is significant that Satan
started in heaven as one of the archangels of God, indicating again that antichrist is one
who belongs to God's people and then becomes a traitor and a rebel] how art
thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations:
For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, l will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the,
congregation, in the sides of the north:
I
will ascend above the heights of the
clouds; I will be like
[equal to] the most High.
The
one phrase "I will" is repeated five times. That is
the essence of rebellion:
Ø
the will of the
creature set in opposition to the will of the Creator. Because Lucifer reached up for equality which he did not merit, he fell.
It is illuminating to
contrast that with the spirit of Jesus, as
described in Philippians 2:5-6:
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Who, being
in the form of God, thought it not robbery
to be equal with God [did not think that equality
with God was something to be grasped at] . . .
The two are in exact
contrast to each other:
Ø
Lucifer was not equal with God. He reached for equality, slipped
and fell.
Ø
Jesus was equal with God. He renounced His position and humbled Himself, and the Father exalted
Him.
Note the contrast:
Ø
the satanic spirit grasps for power, authority and honor. Every time it grasps. it falls.
Ø
The spirit of Jesus is entitled to authority and honor, but voluntarily humbles itself. As a
result. it is given that honor and authority.
The
Goal of Antichrist
Satan wants to be worshipped - In his expression as Antichrist Satan has one
supreme ambition. He wants to receive worship.
Ø
He began a long time ago, and he has never given up pursuing that ambition. According to
Scripture. only God Himself is entitled to receive worship.
Ø
Therefore, if Satan can receive worship, he is thereby reasserting his claim to be equal with God. That
is why he craves worship more than anything else.
Ø
This is brought out by a dramatic incident
in the life of Jesus at the beginning of His ministry. In Matthew 4 we find
Jesus being tempted by Satan in the wilderness. Verse 8 begins the final
temptation:
Again, the devil taketh him
up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and
the glory of them [the
bait is political power];
And saith unto him, All these things will I give
thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
Then saith Jesus unto him,
Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God
and him only shalt thou serve.
The true Messiah rejected Satan’s
bargain. He would
not buy political power at the price of worshipping Satan.
Ø
But
the false messiah
– the Antichrist – will do it.
Ø
He
will buy political power by selling himself to Satan. Once he has sold himself to Satan,
Satan will use
all his power and cleverness to promote him politically, until he becomes the supreme ruler over the whole human
race.
Let's look again at Revelation
13:2-4:
And the [wild] beast
which I saw was like unto a leopard. . . and the dragon [Satan] gave him his power, and his seat, and great
authority.
And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to
death: and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after
the beast. [Just
as the real resurrection endorsed Jesus as the true Messiah, so there will
be a phony resurrection that will single out the false messiah.]
And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto
the [wild] beast:
and they worshipped the [wild] beast. . . .
There
is Satan's ambition finally achieved. He
had to achieve it through a man.
Ø
I would say that Satan has been looking for
two thousand years for the man that will do the job.
Ø
He will be no ordinary man. He will not be
dull or stupid.
He
will be very attractive, very talented, very charming, very clever, very
sophisticated.
Satan's Tool-Deception
Satan needs as his tool of deception a philosophy that deifies man
Satan has one main tool to achieve his
objective: deception. In all
prophecies relating to the end of the age, we are warned
against being deceived.
Ø The deception Satan plans to use will take a specific form.
Since
his object is to get a certain man worshipped as
God, he needs as his tool of deception a
philosophy that deifies man.
-
He now has such a philosophy ready to his hand in the form of secular
humanism. The logical
outcome of secular humanism is to make man his own god.
-
It rejects the concept of a "supreme being" or an absolute
authority outside of man. It claims that man can solve his own problems and
settle his own destiny.
-
Thus man himself becomes "the
supreme being" - his own god.
A clash of philosophies
Zechariah 9: 13 foreshows an end-time clash of
philosophies. The Lord declares what He is going to do
at the close" of this age:
When I
have bent Judah for me, filled the bow with Ephraim and raised up thy sons, O
Zion, against thy sons, O Greece. . . . '
This picturesque figure foreshows the restoration of the two kingdoms that were scattered in
exile - Judah, the southern kingdom, and Ephraim, the northern kingdom. God is
speaking about the time when they will become His weapons of war. Judah will be
the bow; Ephraim will be the arrow that will be fitted to the bow. This is in
line with the prophecies of Ezekiel 37, where the Lord speaks about restoring
the two kingdoms as one nation.
Ø
This verse also indicates that at this time
the representatives of Zion will be raised up in opposition to the
representatives of Greece. In essence, this is a clash
of philosophies.
Ø
Greece is the source of most Western
philosophy . Only those familiar with the history of philosophy
can appreciate to what extent the concepts and the culture of the Western world
have been molded by Greek philosophy.
-
About the year 600 B.C. one of the first Greek philosophers came out with a statement that really sums up the philosophy of secular humanism. His name was Heraclitus, and
he said,
-
"Man
is the measure of all things." In other words, "Man
has, the ultimate answer."
Israel - On the other hand, the essence of Hebrew thought is expressed in the
opening words of the Bible:
Ø
“In
the beginning, God." So we have this antithesis:
è
"In the beginning, God" and
è
"Man
is the measure of all things."
One
major aspect of the end-time conflict will
be this clash of philosophies:
Ø
on the one hand, secular
humanism making man his own god;
Ø
on the other hand, the Hebrew revelation of the one true and supreme God, who alone is to be worshipped and to whom all men must ultimately give
an account.
Let
us pause for a moment to review what we have said so
far.
‚
The supreme motivation of Antichrist is rebellion.
‚
His supreme ambition is to receive worship.
‚
His tool is deception through a humanistic philosophy.
All forms of satanic
deception have one feature in common: everything they produce
is counterfeit.
Ø
Ultimately there
will be a counterfeit trinity. All three persons of this
counterfeit trinity are mentioned in Revelation 16: 13, and they are all
attributed to unclean or evil spirits.
And I
saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the [wild] beast, and out of the mouth of the false
prophet.
That is the satanic trinity, corresponding to the Father, the Son and the
Holy Spirit.
‚
The counterfeit of the Father is the dragon, Satan.
‚
The counterfeit of the Son is the beast
- the false Christ, the Antichrist.
‚
The counterfeit of the Holy Spirit is the
false prophet, the religious teacher who establishes the power of the
Antichrist and persuades the whole world to worship him.
Not
only will Satan produce a counterfeit trinity. He
will produce a counterfeit church.
Ø
Just as Jesus has a Church that is His
bride, Antichrist will have a counterfeit church
which will be his bride.
-
The essence of the counterfeit church or the counterfeit bride is that she is the expression of female
rebellion.
-
As the Antichrist is the expression of the
original rebellion against God, so the Antichrist's bride reproduces his
rebellion in her own characteristic form - that is, female rebellion.
The outworking of this
force of female rebellion is described' in a vision of
Zechariah 5: 5-11.
Then
the angel who was speaking with me went out, and said to me, "Lift up now
your eyes, and see what this is, going forth."
And I said, "What is it?" And he said,
"This is the ephah going forth."
[An ephah is like a bushel. It's a measure of grain.] Again he said,
"This is their appearance in all the land (and behold, a lead cover was
lifted up); and this is a woman sitting inside the ephah."
Then he said, "This
is Wickedness!" [The Hebrew word means rebellion. This woman
is the personification of rebellion.] And he threw her down into the middle
of the ephah and cast the lead weight on its opening.
Then I
lifted up my eyes and looked, and there two women were coming out with
the wind in their wings: and they had wings like the wings of a stork, and they
lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heavens.
And l
said to the angel who was speaking with me, "Where are they taking the
ephah?"
Then he said to me, "To build a temple for
her in the land of Shinar [Shinar is one of the words for Babylon]; and when it is prepared, she will be
set there on her own pedestal" (NAS).
There is a hidden force at
work in all the earth. In 2 Thessalonians 2:7 it is
called "the mystery of iniquity" (lawlessness).
Ø
Here in Zechariah, in its specifically female manifestation, it is personified by the woman hidden in the ephah. All the persons in
this vision are female. Two other women lift up this woman
who represents rebellion and carry her to a place where they can set up
their own religious system.
Ø
The phrase "on her own pedestal" is significant. This religion will not be built on God's appointed
foundation, Jesus Christ, but on a foundation of rebellion.
It will be directly associated with Babylon, the source of all religious corruption
throughout the ages."
In Revelation 17: 1 -6 we have another, even more vivid picture of this rebellious. female
religious system.
Ø
Here the counterfeit church is called a
whore because
she has been unfaithful to her rightful bridegroom, Jesus Christ, and instead
has committed spiritual fornication with the Antichrist.
And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and
talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment
of the great whore that
sitteth upon many waters:
With
whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine
of her fornication.
So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness:
and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of
blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
And
the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden
cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
And upon her forehead was a name
written,
MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
And I
saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints. and with the blood of
the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her I wondered with great admiration [was greatly astonished].
The
bride of the Antichrist reproduces one of his main
characteristics – savage cruelty. She will be the merciless persecutor of their rival, the true Church, who
has remained faithful to Jesus Christ.
Continuing
in Revelation 17, we see that the woman sits on a beast with ten horns, representing ten, kings.
Ø
In other words, she
achieves her position of power by exploiting secular rulers. However, her triumph will be short-lived. Her end is described in verse 16:
And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the
whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn
her with fire.
That
is a remarkable contrast between the way
Antichrist treats his bride and the way Christ treats His Bride.
In everything we see this antithesis.
‚
Jesus loves the Church, gave Himself for her,
cares for her, provides for her, will beautify her, will glorify her, and will present
her with honor to the
whole universe.
‚
The Antichrist, having used the counterfeit church, turns
against her and destroys her.
‚
That is just like the devil. As long as he needs
people, he flatters and coaxes. But when they are of no more use to him, he
casts them away without mercy.
The Love Of Truth
In conclusion, let us turn
once more to 2 Thessalonians 2:7-12, and pick ,out certain
salient features:
For
the mystery of iniquity [lawlessness] doth already work: …
And then shall that Wicked [lawless one] be
revealed. . .
Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power
and signs and lying wonders,
è And with all deceivableness of
unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the
truth, that they might be saved.
And for
this cause [because they did not love
the truth] God shall send them strong delusion … that
they should believe a lie:
That
they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in
unrighteousness.
The
ultimate judgment of God upon the rebellious is to hand them over to Satan. There are
instances in the Old Testament where God did this.
Ø
Because
King Saul rejected the word of the Lord, God handed him over to an evil spirit
(1 Samuel 15:23; 16: 14).
Ø
Later,
God warned Israel as a nation that, because they had persistently rejected His
prophets, He would pour upon them "the spirit of deep sleep," so that
they would no longer be able to understand prophetic revelation (Is. 29:
10-14). In Romans 11:8 Paul declares that this judgment did indeed come upon
Israel, and because of it they failed to recognize their Messiah when He
came.
Here
in 2 Thessalonians 2 God warns us that at a certain,
point in human history a similar judgment will come upon the whole world.
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All who have failed to love and obey the truth of God that has been presented to them
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will come under the influence of Satanic delusion, which will cause them to embrace a lie rather
than the truth, and so to perish.
This solemn warning of
Scripture has very serious personal implications for all of us.
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What is our attitude to the truth of
God that has been brought to us? Are we ambivalent and
half-hearted in our response, putting off the commitment that God requires of
total unreserved obedience?
I do not believe we can
play around with the truth to suit our own convenience.
We do not necessarily have another ten or twenty years to make the kind of
response that God requires.
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God can shut off the truth at any
instant and then it will no longer be available to us.
Even if we were to continue to hear it, we would not be able to understand it
or believe it.
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It takes the grace of God to receive
His truth. Apart from His grace we cannot believe.
If God withdraws His grace and send delusion, we will be deceived no matter
how clever or religious or intellectual, we may be.
Is God speaking to you just
at this moment to stop playing religious games and to start obeying the truth?
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Are you ready to surrender yourself in
total obedience to God and
His will? If so, here is a simple pattern prayer through which
you may verbalize your commitment:
Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, by a decision of my will
‚
I renounce Satan and all his ways.
‚
I renounce every known form of rebellion and deception, recognized or
unrecognised.
‚
If these things have any hold over me, I loose, myself from them now,
in the name of Jesus.
‚
I choose instead to receive the truth, to love the truth, to obey the
truth.
‚
I submit myself without reservation to You, Lord Jesus, and to Your
highest will for my life.
‚
From this moment on, I trust
You to keep me from all forms of satanic error and deception. For Your
name's sake. Amen.