Fireworks!, Part 1

You might have the creation of some kind of religion, but you lose the foundation for a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, and now it's anybody's guess. You see, it's up to everybody to basically decide whatever the God is of your own understanding. Aren't you glad today, those of you that believe that you follow a God you do not understand?

It's difficult, isn't it? But we didn't make one up that we could understand. He's beyond our understanding, his ways, beyond our ways, his thoughts above, beyond our thoughts, right? As Christians, we don't make up what we believe. We have God's revealed truth. In fact, the reason the Gospel is so offensive to people today is because of the fact that God's word is truth. When we say that, the immediate implication is that everything which contradicts God's word is false. That's a stark reality, but it's difficult for men and women to accept. In a time called the Great Tribulation, the Antichrist and his prophet will fill the world with their false teaching.

Unfortunately, he will be very effective. We're looking at what the Bible says about that future time today. This is Wisdom for the Heart with Stephen Davey. Stephen's calling today's lesson, fireworks.

J.I. Packard in his book on the Word of God provided a mirror for the church to sort of look at its reflection. And to say the least, it isn't very attractive. He challenges the church of our generation, not far removed from his own. He writes these provocative words, and I quote him, unlike the first century Christians who in three centuries reached the Roman world with the Gospel and those later Christians who pioneered the Reformation and the Puritan awakening and the evangelical revivals and the great missionary movements of the 18th century, we today lack certainty. Certainty about the great issues of Christian faith and conduct is lacking all along the line. The observer outside the church sees us as staggering on from gimmick to gimmick and stunt to stunt like so many drunks in a fog, not knowing at all where or which way we should be going. Preaching is hazy. Heads are muddled. Hearts fret. Doubts drain strength that paralyzes action.

Why? Because we lack certainty about the great issues of the Christian faith. I would agree with that. And one author commenting on that went on further to say that we lack certainty because we have a sinful view of scripture. The church at large no longer believes in the authority and sufficiency of scripture for the life and conduct of the church, and that is in and of itself sin in monstrous proportion.

Sin in denying the sufficiency of the word of God. Listen, this is the reason the dragon has always attacked the words of God from the very beginning. His first temptation to Eve was Did God really say that? And did God really mean that?

Could he have meant this instead? Satan's temptation to the second Adam Jesus Christ had come to bring up and about a race of redeemed saints. Satan came to him and immediately distorted the words of scripture, and Jesus Christ responded with scripture quoting correctly from the words of Moses in the book of Deuteronomy with each onslaught. This is why Paul would write to Timothy, a pastor who is struggling along, encouraging him to cling to the word and to preach the word. Paul reminded him how that as a young child, he said, You've known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. Second Timothy 3 15.

So Timothy, who had the prophets, had the testimony of the apostles and the apostolic community new enough to come to saving faith in Jesus Christ. But that's the sticking point of the Bible, isn't it? That's the sticky part of the gospel. It's this Bible only stuff. And the fact that it makes it pretty clear that Jesus Christ alone can say that that's what really rattles everybody's cage, right? This talk of Christianity, as we talked about in our last session, is the only way to God. John 14 6. That's the that's the offensive part that God has spoken and that his word is authoritative for not only what we believe, but how we behave then gets even stickier and more troubling. This has been illustrated for the church in recent days. Just watch the news, read the newspapers if you can bear it and read along. One recent event where President Obama played into the religious confusion and pluralism and inclusive ism of Washington.

Certainly our culture is reflected there. When he attempted, you probably read about it, to compensate for the fact that he invited an evangelical to pray this inauguration. And there was such an incredible backlash. I don't know if you read any of it, but there's such an uproar.

Why would you do that? Why would you do that in inviting a man who is clearly along with his church stood against the progress of of those that believe in homosexuality and all sorts of other things. And so this New York Times article that I read wrote where Obama compensated and that's their word, by the way, compensated by asking Gene Robinson to pray at another inaugural event. Gene Robinson, if you don't know, happens to be the first active and unapologetic about it, active homosexual elected to serve as the bishop, a bishop within the Episcopal Church.

And his appointment in 2003 started a rift that is now a an international chasm, at least within that denomination. Well, Gene Robinson stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and delivered his prayer. And I read his interview and he said that he struggled with deciding what exactly to pray in a telephone interview with the Times. He went on to say he had been reading inaugural prayers throughout history to get an idea of what was said. And he was, and I quote, after reading them, horrified at how specifically Christian they were.

He ought to study a little more history, but he went on to reassure the public. And I quote him, I am very clear, he said that my prayer will not be a Christian prayer and I won't be quoting scripture or anything like that, as if that would ruin a prayer. He concluded the interview by saying that he's thinking that he just might address his prayer to the God of our many understandings and quote, certainty, not on your life.

Deeper fog only moves in and humanity and especially those that claim to know God watches the church as it staggers from one religious gimmick to another gimmick. You see, it's up to everybody to basically decide whatever the God is of your own understanding. Aren't you glad today, those of you to believe that you follow a God you do not understand?

That's difficult, isn't it? But we didn't make one up that we can understand. He is beyond our understanding his ways beyond our ways, his thoughts above beyond our thoughts, right? You might have the creation of some kind of religion, but you lose the foundation for a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

And now it's anybody's guess. The moment you go beyond sola scriptura, the moment you go beyond the scriptures being as the reformers cried are our objective basis for determining the truth about God and the way to God. You're left in a in a muddle. You're left with uncertainty. You're left without this scripture that Paul told Timothy is able to make you wise unto salvation in Christ Jesus.

You've done away with it. Saving faith comes from hearing the word of God. Romans 10 17. Now, in our last session, we introduced the next step in the lie of Satan against the word of God, which is what it is, the truth of God. By introducing the third person of this trio, this anti Trinity, this false Trinity.

Go back to Revelation Chapter 13. And for those of you that are just catching up with us during the tribulation, you have the control of the human race, those who dwell on the earth. That's a phrase, by the way, earth dwellers for those who do not believe the gospel that have come to faith in Christ after the rapture.

They're called earth dwellers or those who dwell on the earth. They're unbelievers. They're controlled by these faces of evil. The dragon who is Satan counterfeits God the father.

He empowers with power. God has given him delegated to him the antichrist who counterfeits God the son. And then now you have the emergence of this false prophet, this anti spirit.

He counterfeits the Holy Spirit by glorifying the son, the antichrist, the son of perdition. So you have these three working together. You have Satan and then you have these two men.

They will, according to Revelation 19, be cast into the lake of fire. They're living men. They're real men that have followed the lie that have bought into it. In fact, they're they're empowered by it here as they seek to deceive the whole world and the false prophet.

We noticed his partnership and his priority. Look back at verse 12, the middle part. He makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast.

That is the antichrist, whose fatal wound was healed. So the false prophet that is going to succeed where every other false prophet has failed. He will actually be able to forge a one world, a global religion. And he will use the thinking of mankind that panders toward unity at the sake of truth.

It has been doing that since time began. Those who will basically raise their fist against the truth of God, who find him inconvenient, who find him a little bit too nosy, who find their accountability to him undesirable. So we're going to create a religion that basically says everybody's going to get in. And this is the inclusive religion of our generation.

We see it even more and more as we go along. Had a gentleman come up to me and said, I'm at Colonial. I've been here now for some time because I left my church who began to preach an inclusive gospel that everybody basically gets in. And he said, I went to my pastor and I asked him, you know, some of the stuff you're saying I'm really not sure about. If it's true. And he said, Look, why don't you just know that I am an expert, quote, in the inclusive faith.

And I can teach you a lot of things. He decided to leave. He didn't want to be taught that way and has now come over here. He didn't tell me the name of the church.

And if you did, I can't remember which is a good thing. But this man will succeed this false prophet. This is the universalism of our day that's setting the stage. And I introduced you last in our last session to the the universalism of the emergent church.

Maybe you've heard about that is the newest form of basically evangelical apostasy. One of its leading spokesman, Brian McLaren, who is an apostate and not a true Christian, doesn't have a true church, abandons the truth of God's word, said that Jesus really had a secret message. And of course, he is able to tell us what that was. And so this is the secret message. And I quote him. Jesus's secret message in word and deed makes clear that the kingdom of God will be radically and scandalously inclusive. Everybody gets in. And that is scandalous.

Why? Well, because he's going to explain, along with other emergent leaders and and others, that it's scandalous because Buddhists and Hindus and Muslims and every liberal Baptist, by the way, in the same pot, they've never bought into the idea of a literal resurrection, a literal virgin born a deity God incarnate. They've never bought into a literal heaven or hell except the one they want to go to.

But guess what? Even though you don't believe in Christ, Christ will still save you. You get in. I read in one article in this view, as I've been researching this week that I found one of them saying even atheists get in. They're going to come in kicking and screaming, but they're going to get in.

And once they get in, they'll realize it's a good thing and they'll want to stay. Fortunately, this is classic universalism and it is becoming the religion of our day. You know, I used to teach guys in seminary five years ago, pastoral theology class about inclusive ism and universalism.

And I said, you know, that's kind of French stuff and you really don't have to worry about it all that much. It is now mainstream, mainstream as the church continues to apostatize. Another illustration I'll give you quickly in the most recent national prayer breakfast, the speaker who in times past were evangelicals. This time around, it was Tony Blair, the former prime minister of Great Britain. I was sent a transcript of his speech by a woman in our church who was born in England, raised there, and she wanted to know my thoughts. I wasn't able to email her back and thought I'd just give her my thoughts publicly. And she had concerns about it.

Why? Because his speech fit well within the context of pluralism and universalism. It was only one more speech that put into words something you've seen following cars around on their bumper. They take the icons of all these different religions and they create the word coexist. That's pluralism leading to universalism. Everybody's okay. In fact, we have so many points in common to worry about it and let's all just be fine and certainly don't evangelize anybody.

That's the height of hate speech and unfairness. And that's where we're headed as a nation. Well, here's what he said to the attendees of this prayer breakfast. There are a million good deeds done every day by people of faith. What inspires them?

Ritual or doctrine or the finer points of theology? No, it is the unconditional nature of God's love. That's code for God loves everybody and there's no condition to meet to be loved by God, which is absolutely antithetical to the scripture.

There is a condition. In fact, we're going to hell because it's not been met unless we place our faith in Christ who met the condition of perfection and holiness. And we in him receive the love of God. Well, this is universalism. He goes on to say this. In fact, he gave a rather warm hearted illustration and undiscerning people.

And I'm afraid probably men who lead to have cloth and collars and everything else, they were probably going, you know, it's great you put it in such a good way. I like that. He said this. I remember my first spiritual awakening. Now that ought to give you a flag right there, because how many do you have? One. You were dead in sin and trespasses, Ephesians says, but you were brought to life awakened through Christ.

So you have one and that lasts forever. You don't have to worry about it again. But he said in my first spiritual awakening, I was 10 years old. Something significant happened. My father has suffered a serious stroke, and my mother sent me on to school to keep a sense of normalcy. I told my teacher and my teacher knelt to pray with me.

And at this point, I'm thinking, oh, this is great. Now, my father, Blair went on to say, was a militant atheist, not just an atheist, but a militant atheist. We'll tell you how much he hates the thought of God existing every chance he can. So before we prayed, I told my teacher, I'm afraid my father doesn't believe in God. That doesn't matter.

My teacher replied. God believes in him. He loves him without demanding love in return. Now think about it. He was given a message that impacted him. Unfortunately, deceptively here, you can deny the existence of God with every fiber of your being, but it doesn't matter because God believes in you and he's going to let you in.

You can withhold your love. It doesn't matter. You don't even have to believe he exists. Let me let the Apostle Paul answer that. He spoke to the pluralists of his day, those who had chosen their God that they in particular liked, and he preached to them in that outdoor meeting delivered to us in Acts 7, 17. And he said to them, God is now declaring to men everywhere that you repent because he has fixed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness.

That is, he will judge the world according to a righteous standard. And everybody who is unrighteous is in deep trouble. And how many of us are unrighteous?

Let's take a survey. It ought to be 100%. Some of you aren't sure you are unrighteous.

Just let your wife tell you the truth. You're unrighteous. However, by faith in Christ, the righteous one, you will not be judged because he's already been judged. See that certainty, that's the certainty of our faith. Let me let Peter answer this idea that everything's okay. By the word of God, the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and the destruction of unbelievers or ungodly men. 2 Peter 3-7. Let me let Jude answer this in his little epistle where he says, these are the ones marked for condemnation.

Why? Because these are the ones who deny the existence of our only master and Lord Jesus Christ. It's pretty clear, isn't it? Now Blair went on to set the table for what we're hearing more and more about. He went on to basically say that all the prophets throughout human history, doesn't matter who it is, from Confucius to Muhammad to Christ to whatever, John the Baptist, all of the prophets have basically said the same thing. And he quoted from Hindu scriptures or writings. He quoted from the Sikh scriptures or writings. He quoted Confucius, Buddhist writings. And then he said, and I quote, the global community is upon us and now into it steps religious faith. This faith that accepts every faith then will bring cohesion and unity and peace. Listen, from all of our quotes from our last study and this study, they're all saying the same thing.

They are, they're not. From Muslim leaders to emergent pseudo pastors to church bishops and even a former prime minister, we are really all one anyway. And we're just trying to follow our own version of truth.

Let's find the points we agree on and let's all have unity together. This may very well be readying our world for the coming of the false prophet. Maybe it is this generation that is being set up and what a perfect platform. Before we dive into the text of Revelation 13, let me just tell you what's revealed.

This is Satan's brilliant, simple setup. He will be able to one day say, you've all been right. You've all been right. You've heard from many prophets, many scriptures, many religions throughout the history of mankind and they have all basically said the same thing. They were all speaking for God. Now, let me bring to you the next prophet in line and he will reintroduce you to the true God. And John sees the world following the message of this anti-spirit, this false prophet who comes to glorify the anti-Christ as the true living God. How will the world follow this false prophet?

I mean, why would they? Why would they follow the message of this one who says he is the true prophet? Well, John's going to answer that. We've seen his partnership with the enemy, Satan and his power. We've seen his passion and his purpose to glorify the anti-Christ. But what is going to cause the world beyond a partnership in his passion? So there have been prophets and they've been really passionate. What's going to cause the world to believe him? I want to show you then the answer in his performance.

Let me show you the fireworks. Look at verse 13 and answer the question. Verse 13 of chapter 13, he says, John says, here's the vision. He performs great signs so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men.

See, John answers the question, why will the world follow him? Well, look at his performance. Look at his great signs. Samia, it's the same word used to speak of the apostles back in Acts chapter five, we're talking about from the hands of the apostles came many signs and wonders, authenticating them as the true prophets, of course, of God.

It's interesting to me that John uses the same word Samia here. Only he adds that little word mega loss, which gives us our word mega. Listen, the false prophet is performing mega signs. You haven't seen anything until you've seen his, his mega sign.

And what is it? Well, the people are going to flock to him because he's making fire fall from heaven. I mean, you can imagine with all of the crowds that follow the so-called miracle workers of our generation and the healers of our world, you can imagine the influx of followers here. And this prophet, listen, is not just healing, bad blood pressure, bad needs and bad credit.

He's doing something observable, definable, demonstrable, provable visible. There's more to this lesson, but we don't have time to complete it on today's broadcast. So we're going to come back tomorrow and bring you the conclusion to this lesson. Then you're listening to Wisdom for the Heart.

Stephen Davey is working his way through a series entitled Antichrist and the Many Faces of Evil. The lesson he's been teaching today is entitled Fireworks. And as I said, we'll bring you the conclusion to this lesson on tomorrow's broadcast. In the meantime, we'd love to interact with you.

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I hope we hear from you today. In addition to being our daily Bible teacher, Stephen Davey is also the president of Shepherd's Theological Seminary. Shepherd's Seminary is a fully accredited graduate school training pastors and Christian leaders for a life of service. If you or someone you know is interested in graduate level theological training, I encourage you to consider Shepherd's Seminary.

There's a link to the school on our website so you can find out more information there. That website once again is wisdomonline.org. I'm Scott Wiley, and for Stephen and all of us here, I want to thank you for listening today. Please join us tomorrow for the conclusion to this lesson here on Wisdom for the Heart. Amen. We'll see you next time.