Sin is in a sense like man in that there was a moment in time when sin was conceived and born, and through the years has grown and will soon present in the world the Man of Sin. We have the warning in Scripture that this man of sin is coming. In II Thessalonians 2:3 Paul wrote, "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition."
What Paul says here is that sin will reach a climax before Christ returns to bring His church to glory. Of this return he spoke in the preceding verses. He calls attention to the Thessalonians, that they were taught the false doctrine that Christ was coming in their lifetime. How correct Paul was, for now, almost 2,000 years later, Christ still has not returned. The Thessalonians had been taught that which was not the truth.
This was not a false doctrine of the world, but one taught in the churches. It was preached by men whom one would be inclined to believe, because they did preach some undeniable truths. This demonstrates why what we considered yesterday is so important. We must try the spirits whether they are of God. We may be sure that the richer the truth is in a church, the more feverishly Satan works to get his false doctrines there. Satan is sly, crafty, and extremely dangerous.
Today, as we rush toward the days of the Anti-Christ, we should be very careful, and alert to the fact that Satan is trying to get us to eat, with our souls, forbidden fruit, doctrines that God commands us not to eat. It is revealing that God moved John to call him, who will be Satan's most powerful and crafty tool, the Antichrist. "Anti" means "against." There are many today who are in the church but against Christ as tools of Satan. It is well for us to be warned, as we approach the day of that Antichrist's coming. Satan deceived Adam and Eve; and he is trying to deceive us today.
Read: II Thessalonians 2 .
Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
Daniel 4:1-37
2 Peter 1:1-21
Psalm 119:97-112
Proverbs 28:17-18
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Quote for Reflection:
"True faith confines its view so entirely to Christ, that it neither knows, nor desires to know, anything else." John Calvin
