God's love: infinite, abundant,unreserved,unconditional.
God so loves the world, that there is not one person, living or dead, that Jesus did not die for. The apostle Paul says that if God was so willing to give His Son, He along with His Son willingly offers everything else also (Romans 8:32). This without any doubt includes all the advice, counsel, and directions in order that we may find our way to Him (Jeremiah 6:16; Matt.7:14; Hebrews 1:1-3;12:1,2; 1 Peter 2:2:21-25) along with all the warnings of the pitfalls, dangers, and wrong paths that may lead us astray.God has clearly described the full gospel, demonstrated His love, proclaimed His grace and mercy, and He has defined sin, exposed heresy, exposed our enemies, and repeatedly warned us of Satan's many varied and subtle deceptions that would lead us into a false hope (John 10:10; Isaiah 45:19; Amos 3:7; Isaiah 8:19,20). When time comes that we must face our Maker, we will have no excuse.
As we look to the future, prophecy informs us that we are nearing a time of great crisis of such magnitude that not since Noah has there been a time of such import and significance. And in fact in Revelation 14:9-11 is the most dire warning in all scripture, and that time is immediately before us. So I ask. Is this warning given in love? Yes. If such a dire warning is given, do you think God would also offer a sure identification of the Antichrist that we may not be deceived? Again, the answer is yes. And would not that same love also reveal not just who the beast is, but how we may avoid its mark? Remember, "He that spared not His own Son, but offered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?"
Let us get real here.
Why is it that many in the church then move away from that revelation regarding the Antichrist, and attach to him their own theories and opinions when no such things are necessary? God has not enshrouded His warnings in a mystery that cannot be understood. The church has become full of prognosticators and clairvoyants, finding simple Biblical exegesis insufficient so people devise imaginative future enemies about to persecute the church, attack Israel, decimate all that they believe is good and sound, all the while ignoring and setting aside God's word that warns them that the enemy is not without the church, but within. In attempting to tell everyone that the enemy is still future and is coming from the horizon afar off, they do the devil's own work and deceive people into ignoring the real enemy who is standing beside them whose doctrines and dogmas they have all been partaking of. In this they are ignoring the very word of God that says "Come out of her my people". God says come out, they say he hasn't arrived yet. And not only so, but because they believe the coming enemy is an individual, how can they come out anyway from an individual? God's warning makes no sense to such a one. They fail to perceive that the Antichrist is not an individual, but a succession of individuals who preside over the one system. It is that system that is so very well described in scripture, and it is that system that God calls His people to leave. It is the system that God warns of, it is the system that is the enemy, and it is that system that so many are even now fully card-carrying-life members of but are totally unaware and oblivious of the danger!
In Revelation 13, that wonderful chapter that focuses so intently on the 'Beast' and its character and work, mentions 'worship' five times, and in the following chapter, 3 times. Satan lusts for and craves worship. Isaiah quotes Lucifer in
Isaiah 14:13,14. "I will ascend into heaven; I 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 the Most High."!! Satan, aka Lucifer, has an "I" problem.
If Satan however strolled into the local church, of whatever denomination, introduced himself and said "worship me", is the congregation going to do that? Hardly. Does Satan know such a tactic would fail? Of course. So in order for him to receive the worship he so desperately craves, he has to make people believe they are worshiping the true God, when in actuality they are worshiping the false. Thus Satan has to use deception. He must introduce a system of worship that is so close to the original that it is almost impossible to tell them apart. He must introduce a counterfeit. He cannot do this by force, as people will be on to it immediately. In order to destroy the church, Satan tried with persecution through pagan Rome, but failing to lessen the growth of the church, he had to use more subtle methods. Introducing false doctrine he slowly but surely began to chip away at the foundations of truth until the people were believing a lie. Then they would be ready for the last great deception, and be led into false worship. God, Who sees the end from the beginning, warns us of this great counterfeit.
God has shown us who is Antichrist.
Paul wrote in
2 Thess. 2:3,4. "Let no man deceive you by any means, for that day (the second advent) shall not come, except there come a falling away first, 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 worshiped: so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God."
Here we see Antichrist promoting himself to a place of worship. What is the temple of God in the Christian era? It is the church. (1 Cor.3:16,17; 6:19; 2 Cor.6:16; Eph. 2:19-22). Therefore Antichrist is placing himself in a position of authority and as an object of worship within the church. He is not on the outside attacking the church, he is on the inside deceiving it. Paul repeats his former warning in
Acts 20:29,30. "I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them."
Paul also says in
2Thess. 2:7 "the mystery of iniquity doth already work." Thus the great apostasy he warned of had already begun in the days of the apostles, and this apostasy was to result in slowly and cunningly eroding away many important Bible truths from men's minds that would last for centuries.
The Antichrist who was to bring on the crisis of the mark of the beast at the end of time began forming and growing into power in those early days. John confirmed this saying in
John 4:3 "that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come, and even now is it in the world."
So Satan was raising up his counterfeit a long time ago,for it was through this counterfeit system of worship that Satan himself would be worshiped. Notice in...
Revelation 13:1 1 ¶ And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority."
Who is this dragon? Revelation 12:9 tells us
" And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him."
Thus it is Satan who gives the beast its power, its seat (or throne) and authority. But this is not all. In reading Revelation 13:1,2 we are taken back to the 4th beast of Daniel, pagan Rome. The parallels between pagan Rome and the dragon, both in symbol and practice, is not a coincidence. And documented history reveals that it was pagan Rome, more specifically Emperor Justinian, that gave official approval to the popes in the 6th century to assume civil power in Rome. It was from this time that the Roman church began its venture as a church/state union, the typical and common characteristic of all pagan religions. And continuing in
Revelation 13:3 "And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered (or marvel in admiration) after the beast.
4 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?"
