We are already running late and our time is short, so I must quickly get to the point of this message. As I mentioned earlier, this is the eighth in a series of messages on the Antichrist. And the purpose of these messages on the Antichrist is to prepare our hearts for what must soon happen. We are very close, as anyone who is sensitive to the Lord and to what is going on in this world must realize — we are very close to the end.
But in these messages I have not gone for any sensationalism, which unfortunately has plagued this subject, whether in books or in messages. I'm not concerned with sensationalism. I'm concerned with what the word of God has to say to us, and what should be the attitude of our hearts, and how we may be prepared for these events which are now very imminent.
Early on in these messages, I have been speaking about the Resurrection and the Antichrist, the cross and the Antichrist. And today I must come to another subject. And this subject lies heavy on my heart. In fact, it weighs upon me like a burden. It weighs me down. It puts grief into my heart. And I have been pondering how, by the Lord's grace, I will be able to share this burden with you.
The question that must occur to any thinking person is this: why does the Lord allow the Antichrist to appear at all — this dreadful, this horrible, this abominable figure? Why does He allow evil to come to such a head? And that, of all things, in such a way as will disastrously affect the church in the last days? Both because of the deception that will grow and take effect within the church — the apostasy that Paul speaks about in Thessalonians — and the dreadful persecution that is going to come and affect each one of us, if we remain faithful to the gospel. And that is a big "if." Because I wonder how many will remain faithful to the gospel in the day of Antichrist. Will you remain faithful?
Why does God allow the Antichrist to appear at all? What is the answer to that question? Have you ever thought about it? Of course, it is putting in a specific form the much more general question as to why God allows evil to occur at all. Now, I am not going into a philosophical treatise on the subject. I just want to ask the question: why doesn't God cut down the Antichrist before he can even grow into the awful creature that indeed he will be?
In the early church, when Ananias and Sapphira sinned, as is recorded in the book of Acts chapter 5 — when he lied to the leaders of the church, to Peter in particular, and when he lied to the Holy Spirit — he was instantly cut down. Instantly dropped dead. Why doesn't God cause the Antichrist to drop dead, so that he will not become the harm and the hurt, indeed the destruction, of the church in the last days of this age? What is the answer to this question? Why doesn't God safeguard His church from the unbearable situation of apostasy within and persecution from without, by just cutting down the Antichrist? And then I wouldn't even have a subject to preach. I wouldn't have to go on for so many sessions, so many messages. I've already reached the eighth of a series of these messages.
If you come to think about it and you search the word of God, there is only one answer to this question that I can find in scripture. And that answer is one I fear that none of us want to hear. But if you can think of a better answer, let me know about it.
I've mentioned in previous messages in this series that the Antichrist, according to 1st and 2nd John, rises from within the church. He is the apostate of all apostates within the church. He comes not from outside the church, but from within the church. Clearly he will be a great leader of the apostasy. And for all those who will not follow that apostasy, he will bring such persecution to bear upon them that either they break, or they die. Either they apostatize, or they die. And listen to me, brothers and sisters, my dear ones in the Lord — we are not here talking about theory. Because this is going to affect every one of you. Every one of us. Nobody will escape.
The Bible tells us you are going to have to make a decision: whether you bear the mark of the beast, which is the Antichrist, or you will bear the mark of Christ. Neutrality, sitting on the fence, middle of the road — will not exist for any of us. That will not be an option. You will either save your life by apostatizing, or you will lose it and be a martyr. And then the words of the Lord Jesus will take on a significance such as it has not yet taken significance for most of us: "He that will lose his life will save it. But he that will save his life will lose it." The meaning of those words will become so clear as it will require no commentator to explain it to you.
But you say, "You haven't told us the answer yet. Why did the Lord not cut down the Antichrist?" The answer is quite simply this: God is going to bring judgment on the church. I told you that that is the heavy burden. We are familiar with the message that God will judge the unbelievers. We are not so familiar with the message that God will judge the church. The message sounds strange to us. "The church? The church will not be judged!" I am going to show you from the scriptures whether my statement is founded in the word of God or not. I will leave it to you to judge. Most of you have a Bible in your hands.
And I wonder — when you read your Bible, whether one thought has ever clearly crossed your mind: there are 66 books in the Bible. 39 in the Old Testament, 27 in the New. And there is not one of these 66 books that is addressed to non-Christians. Have you ever thought about that? Not one. The Old Testament was addressed to the covenant people of God, to Israel, to people whom God had brought into relationship with Himself through the Old Covenant. Every one of the 39 books of the Old Testament speaks to the covenant people of God. We have 27 books in the New Testament, and there is not one that speaks or is specifically addressed to unbelievers. Even the Gospels were recorded as teaching for the church, to record what the Lord Jesus taught. And the Lord Jesus didn't speak to Gentile unbelievers as such. He spoke, as the Old Testament prophets did, to the Jews, to the people of God who stood in covenant relationship with God.
There are only some sections in the book of Acts that record certain messages to unbelievers. But the book of Acts as a whole is not addressed to unbelievers. In fact, it is addressed to one called Theophilus, whose very name tells us that he is a lover of God, because the word "Theophilus" means "one who loves God." Interesting, isn't it? No book addresses non-Christians. Why didn't God, in all the Bible, put one book at least to speak to non-Christians? Every book in the Bible speaks to you, if you are a Christian. And it speaks to me.
So how is the message going to reach the non-Christian? How is the message of salvation going to reach the non-Christian? The answer is clear, both in the Old Testament and the New: it is through God's people. You and I. If you are a Christian, you are God's message to the world. Not the Bible — but you. It is your life that is meant to speak to the world. That is what Isaiah said in chapter 42, verse 6, and chapter 49, verse 6: "I have given you to be a light to the Gentiles." You are to shine forth with the glory of God.
When Israel didn't succeed in this task, it was passed on to the Messiah. And in the New Testament, in Acts chapter 13, amazingly, these same words are taken up by the church. And Paul and Barnabas explain what it is that they are doing. They are saying, "We — those words in Isaiah are now being fulfilled in us." You read in Acts chapter 13: "to be a light to the Gentiles." The church has taken up the torch where Israel dropped it. Israel failed to be the light of the world. Instead of being a glory to God, as Paul says, "The name of God is blasphemed among the nations because of you." Israel failed. Again and again. Twice the temple was destroyed. The people of God went into exile. The Jews were scattered over the world. They lost their nationhood. They disappeared for a time, though constantly preserved yet by the merciful hand of God for the latter days.
And so the church was to take up the role — both Jewish believers and Gentile believers, though in the end the Jewish believers became less and less because the Gentile believers dominated the church throughout the world. They were to be a light to the Gentiles. Israel failed. And let me ask you the question: has the church succeeded where Israel failed? Has the church succeeded to be the light of the world? Has it? Can you and I in all honesty say that the church of Christ, as it is in the world for the last 2,000 years and up to this present day, is a glory to God? It glorifies God? It shines as a glorious light like the sun shining in the darkness of this earth? "You are the light of the world," the Lord Jesus said to His disciples. And Paul said to the various churches, "Once you were darkness, now you are light. Let your light shine before men."
And has the church succeeded? Has it glorified God? As a pastor of the church — and I think most of my brothers and sisters in the pastorate will agree with me throughout the world, and most of the non-Christians will say the same thing — if the church is the glory of God, the light of the world, it is very hard to see where that glory is and where the light is. Indeed, there have been outstanding individual Christians, both in the Old Testament and in the New, and there are still outstanding Christians today. Very few they are, but there are a few. But the church as a whole, we must say with heavy hearts, has for the most part been a disgrace. An utter disgrace to the name of God. And the words that apply to Israel — "The name of God has been blasphemed among the nations because of you" — applies today to the church, does it not?
I, for one, didn't want to become a Christian for years. I went to a missionary school. I also went to church from time to time as an unbeliever. And it made me sick, what I saw. The name of God was blasphemed. Even today in Hong Kong — where is the witness of the church? The name of God is blasphemed because of the church. Let's not mince our words. Let's not water it down. Let's not soften the blow. The church — a disgrace. When I read church history, my heart is pained within me. My heart feels heavy within me when I read church history. Read it sometime and see for yourself. Apart from some martyrs and some outstanding men, the story of the church is one of internal conflict, one of power grabbing, one of looking for status and position, one of possessing vast riches and manipulating politics. We are familiar with that tedious story.
And so when I say with a heavy heart, "Why does God allow the Antichrist to arise?" — it is for judgment upon the church. Let me give you a quick survey of history, the history that is recorded for us in scripture. And even in the last day or two, I've been meditating upon this matter, trying to look at history from God's point of view. Can we look away from man's point of view and look at it from God's point of view? And there is nothing but heaviness of heart. Read the Bible sometime from God's standpoint, because it's God's book. Many people turn to the Bible just to look for some comfort for themselves, to get some refreshing for their souls. That's all fine. But can you for once stand back from your selfishness — which has been a curse for the church all through its history — and look at it with God's eyes for once?
Let me try to paint a very quick picture in a few minutes, to try and see what it looks like from God's point of view. Let's go back to the Garden of Eden first. He created Adam and Eve in order to have fellowship with them, in order that God's glory would be manifested in them. What happened? It didn't take long for Adam and Eve to collapse to pride and selfishness, self-assertion. And all God's desire for fellowship in the cool of the day, to walk in the garden and fellowship with Adam and Eve — failed.
The dismal history continues through Genesis. We don't have to go further than six chapters. Only six chapters. It takes most people a matter of maybe less than an hour, maybe some people take only 15-20 minutes to read that much. In six chapters, in chapter 6 of Genesis, verse 6, God was saying there — you can read it for yourself — God said in verse 6 of chapter 6, "I am sorry that I made man." And it grieved Him to His heart. It grieved Him to His heart. Can you feel God's feeling? Can you enter into His heart and feel what it is? God made man beautiful and perfect, and gave him wonderful surroundings and gave him His own presence and fellowship with him. And within six chapters, man had degenerated and gone so utterly into corruption and disobedience and sin and violence and bloodshed — in only six chapters. And it grieved God to His heart. And there came the flood and wiped out all that rottenness and that corruption, to give man a new start. And you know, out of that entire population of the world, only eight people came through the flood. Noah and his family were the only righteous people left. It took only six chapters.
And then in the midst of all that darkness, there arose one man, Abraham. God raised him up, and man seemed to have another new hope, a new beginning. And God could walk with Abraham, and we have hope again. Finally, there is somebody who walks with God. But then from there on, it is down and down and down. Nothing but downhill. Even Jacob — no one can help but read the story of Jacob with reservations. A man who got his blessings by deceit. A man whose conduct leaves so many question marks in our minds. Whenever you do a Bible study in Genesis, people are always asking questions, "How can God bless a person like this?" Indeed, it is a problem.
And then the story goes down and down, until one more bright light appears on the scene: Moses. Praise God for Moses. Finally, there is a man with whom God can speak face to face. How He longed to find such a man upon the face of the earth. There is Moses. And Moses led the people out of bondage in Egypt. And a multitude of over two to three million Jews who came out of Egypt were being led to a new land, the land of promise. You may be familiar with the story, but do you understand its meaning? In Psalm 95, God said, "For forty years I have been grieved with this people." Stiff-necked and rebellious and disobedient, mumbling, complaining all the time. "I have shown miracle after miracle. I have revealed My hand of power to save them. And all I get is mumbling and grumbling. This people have grieved Me for forty years." And a journey that would have taken only 40 days for that multitude from Egypt to the land of promise took 40 years.
And look at the story. Keep reading your Bible. And it's a dismal story. A dismal story. A few bright lights here and there. A Joshua arises. The story is a sad one. Israel went down and down and down. The people who were supposed to be the lights of the world ended up in destruction. Yes, there was still a bright light of David for a while, whose life had many blemishes, but at least it was still a bright spot in the already darkening history.
In 721 BC, the northern kingdom was destroyed. Nobody wanted to listen to the voice of the prophets who warned them that God's judgment was coming against His people. "Impossible! God would never judge His people! He is always faithful to His covenant and to His promises." My brothers and sisters, let me tell you something. Judgment is as much a promise of God as blessing. Did you understand that? Did you realize that? Judgment is God's promise that if the people of God disobey Him, He promises to judge you. And when you go to a bookshop and find books on promises that tell you only about the blessings and not the judgments, they are not writing what the Bible means to write.
Everybody who has been to Israel knows Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal. Israel was given the choice of blessing and curse. It is up to you to choose which of these two. "I set before you life and death." But judgment is as much a promise of God if He is to be faithful to His character as blessing. And they were saying God will never judge His people. Wrong. And so they did not listen to the prophets.
And of course, the true prophets were outnumbered — hundreds to one. Hundreds to one. They did not listen. And so the southern kingdom refused to listen to the pleadings of Jeremiah, the few bright lights that remained, the final prophets of the last days of Israel. But again, they were outnumbered. And it is always the majority who is right. Micaiah was one. Micaiah ben Imla was one prophet in the face of 400 others who contradicted him. Those are hopeless odds. Why should you listen to one when 400 say exactly the opposite?
Oh, brothers and sisters. I am speaking to Christians. And I am speaking to Christians because I know the only way to speak to non-Christians is through the Christians. The reason why every book in the Bible, as I mentioned, speaks to Christians is because the only way God speaks to the non-Christian is through the Christians. And if you don't speak through your life to the non-Christians, if God cannot speak through you, let me tell you this, brothers and sisters: God will judge you. And I will be a false prophet like all the other false prophets in Israel if I didn't tell you the truth, that God promises to judge you. It is a promise of God. That's why it's a heavy message. Painful message.
And so, in 587 to 586 BC, the southern kingdom, Judah, was also destroyed. They would not listen to the message of judgment. They didn't want to listen to this. They said, "Look, listen, Jeremiah, listen, Ezekiel — look at all these prophets, they all say peace and safety. Peace and safety. God will never judge the people of God. And what is more, don't you notice? The temple is in the midst of us." That's what the northern kingdom didn't have, you see. "We have the temple in our midst. We have the presence of God in Jerusalem. And God will never allow His temple to be destroyed because it will be an insult to His name." And Jeremiah and Ezekiel told them, "Let me tell you this — this temple will be destroyed. This city which is called by His name, the judgment will begin right here. This is the first place that God is going to judge." Blasphemy! "How can you dare to say a thing like that?" Jeremiah was thrown into a pit, as you know, and he nearly died there.
But you say, "Ah, yes. But that's the Old Testament. We are in the New Testament today, don't you know? We stand in a new covenant with God, and the church will never be judged." Isn't that familiar? Doesn't it sound familiar? We've heard it again and again. "You and I will never come under judgment. Judgment has passed for us forever." If so, you'd best read your Bible again. 1 Peter 4 and verse 17. Let it sink, brothers and sisters, into your heart. 1 Peter 4 and verse 17. What does Peter the apostle say? "It is time for judgment to begin at the house of God." It is time for judgment to begin with us. The house of God that Peter refers to, of course, is the church. You can just read 1 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 15: "The household of God, which is the church of God."
Brothers and sisters, let it sink into your ears. As Ezekiel said, let the deaf hear and let the blind see. Judgment will begin with the church. Now this statement in 1 Peter 4, verse 17, I find utterly astonishing for many reasons. First of all, that Peter should think that the sufferings and the persecutions that were coming upon the church — the early church, the church in his day — should be understood as judgment. It's very surprising, is it not? Because it seemed that the church in Peter's day, the early church, is a model to us. Surely they did nothing worthy of judgment. So how can Peter say that judgment begins with us?
You see, that is precisely the difference between the early church and us. Peter saw that the early church also was imperfect. It also had failings. And he thanked God for the persecution by which the church could be purged and purified, that the sins within even the early church could be judged. If you take the rosy spectacles off your eyes and look at the New Testament record, you will see that the New Testament does not hide the sins within the church. It tells us that there was an Ananias and a Sapphira who lied and were killed, destroyed, judged instantly. It tells us about things that went on in the church which were not acceptable. The divisions in the Corinthian church are not glossed over or covered over. "I am of Peter. I am of Paul. I am of Christ." All these ugly conflicts that went on. The arrogance which said, "We have spiritual gifts. We speak in tongues. We are superior to all these other mediocre Christians." That's all there in the church.
The ugliness of conduct in the early church is not hidden. And the Galatians who promptly decided that they needed more than Christ to save them — they needed circumcision or keeping of the law and other things in addition to Christ. The Gentiles thought that they needed to become like the Jews in getting circumcision. Or the Colossians who began going off and worshipping angels. You say, "What is this? You are taught by the apostles and you are going to worship angels as well?" Yes, that's what they did too.
There is so much ugliness. And then of course you have Demas who turned away from Paul and went back to enjoy the world. And you have Simon Magus, a converted magician who did his share of the mischief in the early church. And there was a lack of love, and James rebukes the church: "When a rich man comes into your midst wearing golden rings and fine garments, you say, 'Ah, sir, please sit here in the front. This is the best seat. The fan is blowing right there. Will you please sit here?' And when a poor man comes in, you say, 'Sit there in the corner. That's the place for you. Don't dirty the rest of the congregation with your filthy clothes.'" And James said, "You are a disgrace to the name of God."
And we look at the early church with rosy spectacles, do we not? And say, "You see how wonderful the early church?" They had their share of failings. And Peter says, "We have our share of the failings, and we thank God that God's judgment is beginning with us." And the next verse he goes on to say, "But if the righteous are scarcely saved — saved with difficulty — where will the ungodly appear?"
Brothers and sisters, I was painting for you the portrait. And God looks through the Old Testament and into the New Testament, and He is looking for some faithful people. And it brings tears to our eyes to think that it is as difficult for God to find somebody who walks with Him today in the New Testament age as it was in the Old Testament. If the history of the Old Testament was dark, we had hoped that under the New Covenant, given the gift and the power of the Holy Spirit to enable us to live a victorious life, there will be people, multitudes of people, who walk with God today. Let me ask you: do you walk with God? Could you give me an honest answer? If I look you in the eyes — or even better, if the Lord Jesus looks you in the eyes — and says, "Do you walk with Me today under the New Covenant through the gift of the Holy Spirit whom I have given to you? Do you walk with Me?" I ask you, brothers and sisters, how many people do you know in your churches or in this church concerning whom you could say with confidence, "He walks with God"? Can you name a few names for me, please? If not, then you are the cause. You are the cause why judgment is coming upon the church. Why God will allow the Antichrist — as He allowed Nebuchadnezzar in the past to bring destruction upon Israel — He will bring the Antichrist to bring destruction upon the church.
And I tell you, the time of the Gentiles is fast going by. Remember what Paul said in Romans 11, verse 21: if God destroyed Israel because it failed in its commission to the world, if He broke off the natural branches to graft in the wild branches of the Gentiles, Paul goes on to say in verse 21 of Romans 11, "If He did not spare the natural branches, neither will He spare you." Let those words sink into your minds, brothers and sisters. He will not spare you if you do not fulfill the commission granted to you.
We are not saved to lift ourselves to heaven. This selfish preaching of the gospel in which we save our own spiritual skins is the root of much of this disease. We are saved to fulfill a task, to bring forth fruit to the glory of God, as the Lord Jesus says in John 15. And those who do not bring forth fruit will be cut down and thrown in the fire. No matter how you like to interpret it, I leave it to you and to your conscience. But He will not spare you or me. Don't sit there comfortably and say, "Yes, I am saved by the blood of Jesus, and all I have to do is sit here and wait to get to my reserved seat in heaven." Because unless you fulfill the task entrusted to you, unless you shine as light for Him — "Once you were darkness, and you have been transformed by the Holy Spirit to become light, and light will shine wherever it is" — but if you don't shine, you are not light. You have got no seat waiting for you in heaven.
Where are the people in this congregation today who walk with God? And because they walk with God, their life shines with the beauty and glory of God, so that other people, as it was said in Isaiah — "and the Gentiles, the nations, shall come to your light" — do they come to your light? Because they are attracted by the glory of God in your life?
So I say, stand back and look at the history, the sad history. I think: what is God thinking to Himself? "I created man. I spared not My own Son. I have given everything for man. There is nothing left I can give. I've given My Son. What more can I give? And I still can't find a handful of people who will walk with Me."
Just now at the communion, I was sitting at the front. And when Brother Andrew took up the bread and he broke it, I heard the cracking of the bread. And immediately a sentence in Chinese flashed through my mind. I don't know how you say it in Cantonese, but it is an expression of utter faithfulness — so faithful to God, or in the old Chinese tradition, so faithful to the emperor or to one's master, that one is willing to let one's body be reduced to powder and every bone in one's body to be broken. "Reduced to powder, crushed to pieces," and yet refusing to be disloyal — faithful unto death. And so when I heard the bread cracking in the hands of Andrew, I thought to myself, "Yes, Lord Jesus, I thank You from the depth of my heart that in Your love for me, Your love for the Father, You were willing to be utterly crushed — as the psalm says, utterly crushed — even willing to be reduced to dust for our salvation. What a price He paid."
And after that price, He looks around. He looks today, as the Bible says, His eye runs to and fro through all the earth, looking for somebody that will walk with Him. And where does He find these? The church has become unfaithful. It's become a shame in the earth. And the Hong Kong people and the Gentiles blaspheme the name of God because of the church. True, there are still a few faithful ones. How few. Will you be one of those? If not, the judgment of the Antichrist will reach you with destructive results. God grant to us — I beg of you, before it is too late — that we may walk with Him. Let us pray.