Gtcotr/ws051320
1 John 2:18 Little children,
it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even
now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour.
Last
Wednesday evening we left off at a critical point in our series entitled concerning
the coming of the Lord. The last verse we read was from 1 John, chapter 4.
1 John 4
1 ¶ Beloved, do not believe
every spirit, but test the spirits … whether they are
of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
2 By
this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ
has come in the flesh is of God,
3 and every spirit that does
not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is
the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is
now already in the world.
According
to John … The spirit of the antichrist is already at work in the earth.
Evidently this antichrist spirit had already been working against not only the
Church, but also against Jesus Himself and was responsible for resisting and
even crucifying our Lord on the cross of Calvary.
And
even before, at the birth of Jesus, this same spirit tried to murder the Son of
God born King of the Jews by using Herod’s jealously and insecurity. Herod sent
his soldiers to Bethlehem and killed all the male children 2 years and under
but missed killing Jesus. No doubt Herod was but one more world leader in the
clutches of this unholy spirit raging against God.
We
can go back farther … back to David and Moses and Jacob and Isaac and Abraham
and even farther back to Noah and all the way back to the Garden of Eden to the
time when God cursed the serpent, that old dragon who is the devil and sealed
his eternal fate and revealed that one day the seed of a woman would bruise his
head and ultimately defeat his claim over mankind and the earth which God made
for His children.
This
same evil spirit, the spirit of satan, the rebel cherub who has set his sites
on exalting himself above all that is called God, once it was evident he lost
the keys to death, hell and the grave, and knowing he had but a short time,
began persecuting the Church of the Living God and all those who believe on the
name of Jesus.
In
Acts 3 and 4, Peter and John were singled out by this spirit of the antichrist
and arrested by the civil and religious leaders of that day, thrown in jail,
put on trial, were beaten and then threatened before being released the next
day. What had Peter and John done to deserve such treatment? They healed a poor
crippled 40-year-old man in public by faith in the name of Jesus.
Peter
and John were threatened with worse if they dared to tell anyone else about
Jesus and His love for all mankind. These threats were directly inspired and
orchestrated by the spirit of the antichrist. The Bible records:
Acts 4
23 ¶ And being let go, Peter
and John went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests
and elders had said to them.
24 So when they heard that,
they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: “Lord, You are God,
who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them,
25 “who by the mouth of Your
servant David have said: ‘Why did the nations rage, And the people plot vain
things?
26 The kings of the earth
took their stand, And the rulers were gathered together Against the LORD and
against His Christ.’
Hold that thought … we will come back to
verses 25 and 26 in a moment. For now, let’s follow these continuing scriptures
… there is something very powerful written here that applies to us today.
27 “For truly against Your
holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the
Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together
Now
look at this …
28 “to do whatever Your hand
and Your purpose determined before to be done.
See
that? Let’s read it again. “To do whatever Your hand and Your purpose
determined before to be done.”
Make
no mistake, God is at the helm of this ship. No
one but Almighty God is in control. No king, no president, no dictator, no
potentate and no person, even those possessed, empowered or inspired by satan
himself can thwart the plan or dislodge the people of God from their appointed
destiny.
In
1787, during the Constitutional
Convention in Philadelphia, the 81 year-old Benjamin
Franklin, widely regarded by historians as one of the least, if not the
least, religious of our Founding Fathers of our nation, made what many regard
as one of his best arguments. Listen to what he said:
“Mr. President … I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I
live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth—that God governs in the
affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his
notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his
aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings, that “except the Lord
build the house they labor in vain that build it.” I firmly believe
this ; and I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall
succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel.”
God
has a job and you can bet He is doing it. Despite the desires and the dictates
of the spirit of the antichrist against the saints of God and the Church of the
Living Christ, we, the servants of the Lord cannot be stopped. What is our
duty? What is our call? What does the antichrist trying to do? He is trying to
shut us up and shut us down in hopes we will stop telling people about the love
and salvation found in Jesus alone.
That
is what the devil inspired leaders of the world have always been trying to do.
What did Peter and John pray? They did not make their appeal to Caesar; they
made their appeal to God.
29 “Now, Lord, look on their
threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your
word,
30 “by stretching out Your
hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your
holy Servant Jesus.”
Peter
and John did not ask for justice or for the permission of man. They did not
seek revenge, write or start a riot. These faithful disciples of Christ had
been with Jesus and they knew exactly what to do … they prayed for the power of
the Holy Spirit to embolden them to preach the Word of God!
31 And when they had prayed,
the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all
filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.
Now,
let’s get back to our main subject for tonight … The Last Hour! Remember I said
earlier to put a place marker at verses 25 and 26 and we could come back to it.
Let’s read those verses again …
Acts 4
24 So when they heard that, they raised their
voice to God with one accord and said: “Lord, You are
God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them,
25 “who by the mouth of Your
servant David have said: ‘Why did the nations rage, And the people plot vain
things?
26 The kings of the earth
took their stand, And the rulers were gathered together Against the LORD and
against His Christ.’”
“Who
by the mouth of Your servant David said …” Where did
David
say that the kings of the earth took
their stand against Jehovah, the One Supreme God, and against His Messiah? In
Psalms 2.
Psalms
2, like Psalms 1, is without any title affixed to it and without any authorship
identity contained therein. However, we know David was the author because Luke
records Peter and John and the disciples of Jesus testifying to that fact right
there in Acts 4:25. Now, in the remaining time we have this evening I hope to
simply read this Psalm, which needs very little commentary to understand its
meaning.
Of
course this Psalm points to Christ but also to the Church age, the last day and
this last hour in which we are now firmly established.
There
are four voices in this Psalm. In other words, 4 different people’s
perspective, using 3 verses each. The first one is asking a question about the
nations of the world. I do not believe it is the voice of the world but rather
perhaps, the voice of the Church. I know it is a question I have, as did many
prophets, and a question many have asked God.
Psalms 2
1 ¶ Why do the nations rage,
And the people plot a vain thing?
2 The kings of the earth set
themselves, And the rulers take counsel together, Against the LORD and against
His Anointed, saying,
3 “Let us break Their bonds
in pieces And cast away Their cords from us.”
Now
we hear the reply as though the writer is speaking from God’s perspective.
4 He who sits in the heavens
shall laugh; The Lord shall hold them in derision.
5 Then He shall speak to them
in His wrath, And distress them in His deep displeasure:
6 “Yet I have set My King On
My holy hill of Zion.”
Here
we see a change. Jesus is speaking …
7 ¶ “I will declare the
decree: The LORD has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.
8 Ask of Me, and I will give
You The nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your
possession.
9 You shall break them with a
rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’ ”
The
concluding voice must be none other than the voice of the Holy Spirit which is
on the earth during the last hour to guide, guard and direct the work and the
plan of God.
10 ¶ Now therefore, be wise,
O kings; Be instructed, you judges of the earth.
11 Serve the LORD with fear,
And rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son, lest He be
angry, And you perish in the way, When His wrath is kindled but a little.
Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.
When
the nations take counsel, rage and set themselves against the One True Living
God and against His Son Jesus, and say they are no longer going to follow His
commands and cast away all restraint … Look out!
God
laughs at them. He will confuse their plans and send them great distress.
God
has anointed a King over all the earth and His name is Jesus!
Jesus
has inherited all the earth for an everlasting possession, and He will rule
those who plot against Him with a rod of iron. He will dash them to pieces like
a potter’s vessel.
Only
now, be wise. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son
… do not make Him angry even a little …
Blessed
are all those who put their trust in Him.
This
is what Peter and John said. This was their go-to. These are the scriptures
given to them by the Holy Spirit to give them direction, courage and comfort.
They
prayed for boldness to preach the Word of God in the name of Jesus. All they
wanted was to put their trust in God that He would take care of their enemies
while they followed the Great Commission. They had confidence that God would do
His part while they did theirs. They knew that God was at the helm of the ship
… not the antichrist! And …
Acts 4:31 And when they had
prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were
all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.
Now,
let’s put our trust in God and go out tomorrow and tell others about the plan
of God and the love of Christ!
After
all … it is the last hour! It could be the last call … at least for someone you
know.
