Of Antichrist And His Ruin (book review)

Of Antichrist And His RuinAs I was finishing up reading through the Bible this time, I especially noticed in the last couple of books quite a few mentions of the Antichrist. Wanting to dig a little deeper on this subject, I turned to a man who so throughly knew Scripture: John Bunyan and his book Of Antichrist And His Ruin.

The Antichrist is not something we can just brush off and say, “Well, that’s end-times stuff and doesn’t really concern Christians. After all, won’t we already be in Heaven when the Antichrist appears on earth?” But John, in his first epistle warns us—

This is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world. (1 John 4:3, emphasis added)

Wow, even in the first century, John already saw the spirit of the Antichrist at work. How much more so should Christians today prepare themselves for this onslaught of evil!

I didn’t want any “pop theology” or well-intentioned ideas about the Antichrist, I wanted to know what the Bible said about it. Speaking of John Bunyan, Charles Spurgeon said, “Prick him anywhere—his blood is Bibline, the very essence of the Bible flows from him. He cannot speak without quoting a text, for his very soul is full of the Word of God.”

Indeed, Bunyan’s work in Of Antichrist is a compilation of all the biblical texts, put together in a way that makes sense. Of course, the English is sometimes a bit challenging to follow, since Bunyan wrote over 400 years ago. But if you are interested in the biblical facts about the Antichrist described in the Bible, this must be your go-to source!

6 Quotes From “Light & Truth—The Lesser Epistles”

Light & Truth The Lesser EpistlesHoratius Bonar’s insights on the Scriptures are amazing! So far I’ve read and reviewed three of the four commentaries he has prepared on the New Testament (you can read those reviews here, here and here). These are a few quotes from the third book on the epistles Galatians through Jude. Any reference in brackets is the passage from the Bible on which Bonar is commenting.

“It is a busy, lighthearted, laughing, pleasure-seeking world. But sin is here, and pain is here, and broken hearts are here, and weeping is here, and death is here, and the grave is here. Oh! in spite of all its laughter and vanity, it is an evil world. And the great proof of its evil is, that it cost the death of the Son of God to deliver you from it. … Give yourselves to Him Who came to deliver you from it, and Who stretches out His hands to you all day long, asking you to allow Him to deliver you. He yearns over you; and with sincere earnestness proffers to you His love, His friendship, His great salvation. Consent, O man, consent! His desire is to bless, and not to curse; to save, and not to destroy.” [Galatians 1:4]

“There never have been two gospels. There is not an Old Testament gospel and a New Testament Gospel. There is not one gospel for the Jew, and another for the Gentile, one gospel for the first century, and another for the nineteenth. It is but one gospel, as there is but one Cross and one Savior. Many ages, but one gospel; many sinners, but one gospel; many prophets and apostles, but one gospel. As our earth has had but one sun, so it has had but one gospel. Nor does it need more; that one is sufficient.” [Galatians 1:6-9]

“As the earth without rain or sunshine turns to barrenness, so is it with the Church or soul without the Spirit. … The age thinks it can do without the Spirit. Let the Church watch against this blasphemy. Let her keep hold of the Lord’s promise, the promise of the Father. Let her prize the gift; long for more of it. Let every saint seek more of it. Let our cry be continually: More of the Holy Spirit; more of His fullness; more of His gifts and graces!”

“Strength for the race is needed, hourly strength, superhuman strength; for it is no earthly race, but something lofty, supernatural, divine. Forgetting the supernatural source of strength, we betake ourselves to the internal or the simply external. And so we weary. For only God can supply the power which keeps us running. By Him only shall we run, and not be weary.” [Galatians 5:7]

“‘To Him who is able’—He is the Mighty One, the mighty God, the Lord God Almighty. Hear how this word ‘able’ is used. ‘He is able to subdue all things unto Himself’ (Philippians 3:21). ‘He is able to help them that are tempted’ (Hebrews 2:18). ‘He is able to save to the uttermost’ (Hebrews 7: 25). ‘He is able to keep us from falling’ (Jude 24). It is with the mighty God that we have to do; mightier than ourselves or our foes; mightier than earth or hell; omnipotent.” [Ephesians 3:20]

“Are you expecting the Lord? Are you living in this expectation? Is it a deep-seated, abiding, cherished hope? Is it a hope that tells upon your character, your life, your daily actings in public or private, your opinions, your whole man? Does it quicken you? Does it purify you? Does it keep you separate from the world? Does it keep you calm in the midst of earth’s most exciting events, or most untoward changes? Does it give you a new view of history as well as prophecy? … Let your expectation of the Lord’s coming be a calm and healthy one; not one that excites, but one that tranquilizes; not one that unfits for duty, but one that nerves you more firmly for it; not one that paralyzes exertion, but one that invigorates you for it; not one that makes you indifferent to present duty, but one that makes you doubly in earnest about everything that your hand findeth to do; not one that stops liberality, and prayer, and work, but one that increases all these a hundred fold; not one that dwells exclusively on the future’s dark side—the judgments that are at hand—but one that realizes the glory and the joy of Messiah’s approaching victory and triumphant reign.” [Philippians 3:20]

7 Quotes On Hungering & Thirsting From “The Blessing Of Humility”

The Blessing Of HumilityAs I stated in my review of Jerry Bridges’ book The Blessing Of Humility, reading through these thoughts slowly—Beatitude by Beatitude—would bring about the most life-changing impact. In that spirit, I will be sharing some noteworthy quotes one Beatitude at a time. Here are some quotes on blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (Matthew 5:6)…

“To hunger and thirst for righteousness, then, indicates a strong overwhelming desire for righteousness. … Righteousness denotes the state of being right. Biblically, it means perfect according to God’s law in every way: thought, word, deed, and even motive.”

“At the moment we trusted Christ as Savior, we were justified—declared by God to be righteous. You will never be more or less righteous before God any day of your life than you were the moment you trusted Christ as your Savior. This raises another question: Why should I hunger and thirst for that which I already have? The answer is that the more we grow and mature in the Christian life, the more sensitive we become to the sin and failure we see in our lives. It is not that we necessarily sin more but rather that we become more aware of and mourn over the sin that is already there. As that happens, we hunger more and more after the righteousness we have only in Christ.”

“There is a legitimate sense in which we are to hunger and thirst for that perfect righteousness we already have in Christ. This should be a continual daily attitude of all growing Christians because we continue to sin every day.”

“There is a second righteousness that we should hunger and thirst for: the experiential righteousness we are to pursue every day. God has inextricably linked together the righteousness we have in Christ and the righteousness we should pursue. He does not give one without the other. Therefore, whoever hungers and thirsts after the righteousness we have in Christ will also hunger and thirst to be righteous in his or her daily experience.” [See 2 Timothy 2:2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 3:10]

“It is clear from Scripture, then, that we are to pursue an experiential righteousness. But what will cause us to hunger and thirst for it? The answer is twofold. First, as we have already observed, the new nature is inclined by the Holy Spirit to pursue righteousness. … The second motivation is gratitude for the righteousness we have in Christ.”

“There will be no growth in experiential righteousness apart from a regular intake of the Word of God.”

“We are absolutely dependent on the Holy Spirit to work in us Himself and to enable us to work. We cannot make one inch of progress toward experiential righteousness without His divine enablement.”

I have previously shared quotes on:

Quotes on the remaining Beatitudes will be posted next week so stay tuned. Even better: subscribe to my blog, and you’ll receive the new quotes directly in your email inbox.

Links & Quotes

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“The whole duty of the Christian can be summed up in this: feel, think, and act in a way that will make God look as great as He really is. Be a telescope for the world of the infinite starry wealth of the glory of God.” —John Piper

It’s pretty sad—and quite telling—when Planned Parenthood’s arguments for abortion sound eerily similar to pro-slavery and pro-Nazi arguments of the past.

Seth Godin reminds us that past performance is no guarantee of future results. Check it out! I also really liked Seth Godin’s warning about getting caught up in the Black Friday hype.

“Things will all work out” and “You can do anything you set your mind to” are just two of the seven sentimental lies you might believe.

Eric Metaxas shares about a “crisis of despair” where the church is desperately needed.

What a comfort we can have in this—“This very day I am being saved by the eternal intercession of Jesus in heaven. Jesus is praying for us and that is our salvation [Hebrews 7:25]. We are saved eternally by the eternal prayers (Romans 8:34) and advocacy (1 John 2:1) of Jesus in heaven as our High Priest. He prays for us and His prayers are answered because He prays perfectly on the basis of His perfect sacrifice.” —John Piper

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones asks a vitally important question: How’s your prayer life?

[VIDEO] A great look at competitiveness from John Maxwell—

Links & Quotes

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I love the resources at The Overview Bible Project! They have a series currently running with a cool look at each book of the Bible. The latest is on 1 John. If you enjoy studying the Bible, go to their site and subscribe.

“It is not simply the Christ that is the magnet; it is the crucified Christ. It is crucifixion that has imparted to Him His attractive power; just as it is death that has given Him His life-giving power. It is not Christ without the Cross; nor is it the Cross without Christ; it is both of them together. … All God’s revealed truth is connected with the Cross. Divine wisdom is concentrated there. In Jesus, the crucified, there is the wisdom of God, and He is made unto us wisdom. In the Cross we have the refutation of man’s errors and satan’s lies; the great embodiment of heavenly and everlasting truth. Here all truth and all wisdom are centered! How can it but be magnetic!” —Horatius Bonar

Brian Fisher shares the real story of Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger.

[VIDEO] More revolting Planned Parenthood news—

In The Shadow Of The Cross

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on AppleSpotify, or Audible.

Some people really know how to find the deals when they’re shopping. They know where to shop, when to shop, where to find the coupons, and how to find the rebates.

Rebates have always amazed me. I wondered how companies could give away money and still make a profit. Then I read that often up to 70 percent of rebates go unclaimed. Some people say it’s too much work to fill out all the correct forms, others say it takes too long to get their rebate, and still others think the amount they get back isn’t worth the effort.

I’m concerned about Christians who slip into a rebate mentality with God. It seems some Christians believe that they need to “fill out the right forms” in order to claim all that God has for them. They seem to think that salvation isn’t enough, and that they have to add church attendance, offerings, good works, Bible reading and other activities to make sure they don’t miss out.

Not that there’s anything wrong with those activities, but there is something wrong with thinking we have to do something to keep our salvation at its full effectiveness.

If we have placed our faith in Christ’s work on an old rugged Cross, then all of our sins have been forgiven (see Psalm 103:1-5, 10-12; Jeremiah 33:8). This is a gift that is available to everyone (Acts 10:43).

But here’s when I think satan steps in to deceive us: It’s when we feel convicted by the Holy Spirit. God’s Spirit is constantly refining us to make Christ’s image visible in us. But satan wants to twist and pervert this conviction into condemnation.

It’s only in the shadow of the old rugged Cross that I can see my sin correctly. Consider these four points:

(1) The Holy Spirit’s conviction of sin tells me that He desires for me to be more like Jesus―John 14:25-27.

(2) Sin isn’t my master any longer―Romans 6:1-2, 8-11.

(3) My sin never diminishes God’s love for me―1 John 1:8-2:2.

(4) Sin cannot condemn me―Romans 8:1-2.

As we remember and celebrate what Jesus did on Calvary for us, let’s also remember to stay in the shadow of the Cross. It’s only there we can see ourselves accurately from Heaven’s point of view.

If you are in the area and don’t have a church home, I would love for you to celebrate Resurrection Sunday with us! We’ll continue our look at what happened on the old rugged Cross.

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The Returning King

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on AppleSpotify, or Audible.

John opens the book of Revelation with this greeting: Grace and peace to you from Him who is, and who was, AND WHO IS TO COME… (Revelation 1:4). This is so significant because of the other descriptive phrases John uses for Jesus:

  • Jesus was pre-existent before creation (John 1:1).
  • John was witness to everything Jesus did during His public ministry, including all of the claims Jesus made about Himself (1 John 1:1).
  • And now John says not only has Jesus existed before time existed, not only is He alive now, but He is coming back again!

This is what makes the resurrection of Jesus so important. Jesus Himself told us exactly what was going to happen with His death by crucifixion and His resurrection three days later. The fact that these statements all turned out to be true gives us greater assurance that His promise that He is coming back is also true.

In His very first sermon, Jesus quoted from Isaiah about how He would conduct His earthly ministry (see Isaiah 61:1-2 and Luke 4:18-19). But when He quotes the passage from Isaiah, He leaves off a phrase “and a day of vengeance of our God.” God’s wrath against sin is being held back for now, but the day of judgment is coming.

John says Jesus is the One Who is to come, and records later on how Jesus will come—

     I saw Heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice He judges and wages war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on His head are many crowns. He has a name written on Him that no one knows but He Himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and His name is the Word of God. The armies of Heaven were following Him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Coming out of His mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. (Revelation 19:11-15)

God made Jesus to be sin for us. He suffered and died to pay the penalty for our sins, and those who are still found in their sins—unforgiven, without placing their faith in Jesus Christ’s sacrificial death and resurrection—must face the wrath of God.

Jesus is not only our Risen Savior, but He is the soon-returning King and Judge. 

Three times the last book of the Bible records Jesus Himself saying, “I am coming soon!” This isn’t a scare tactic, it’s real. As certainly as Jesus rose from the grave, He is returning soon.

Are you ready for His return? Are you telling others that Jesus is our soon-returning King? I hope you know what it means to have Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and I hope you are telling as many other people as you can about our soon coming King!

If you have missed any of the messages in this series called Who Is Jesus?, you can find them all here.

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Love The Sinner

Love the sinnerIf anyone sees his brother commit a sin…he should pray…. (1 John 5:16)

The King James Version says this a little more poetically, “If any man see his brother sin a sin.” The Greek does not have the indefinite “a” in front of sin, and the verb tense makes this an ongoing process, so it’s probably more accurate to say it like this: “If anyone sees his brother sinning sins.”

The apostle John is head-over-heels in love with Jesus. So time and time again his counsel is for us also to fall more in love with God, and to demonstrate this by loving others. There is no more loving thing we can do for someone sinning sins than to pray for them (see also Galatians 6:1 and James 5:19-20).

John doesn’t ask us to catalogue their sins; otherwise he would have said “a sin” or even “their sinS.” We are not to be the sin police trying to document each and every infraction! Instead, when we see a brother or sister with a lifestyle that is separated from the love of God, we need to pray for them.

I think John might ask us to pray that they would see the love of God so clearly that the love of sin would become cold and pale and unattractive.

Love Cycle

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…Whoever loves God must also love his brother. … This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out His commands. (1 John 4:21, 5:2)

Love cycleThis is a really cool cycle! I know I love God because I obey His command to love others, which I can only do because I love God and obey His commands.

Here’s the cycle breaker: If I don’t love others, it’s a clear indications that I don’t love God, and the cycle of love-obedience-love is shattered.

Loving God is the natural fuel to obey Him. He is love. He demonstrated this by loving unloveable, sinful me. If He loved me, how could I do anything less than love Him? If I truly love Him, I will naturally want to obey Him. His commands aren’t difficult because He empowers me to do them. His command is to be like Him—He is love so I must love.

I know I am loving God because I am loving others. I can only love others because the love of God is in me. This love inspires me to obey Him and love others. This obedience draws me closer to God, which fuels me for even greater love.

Love fuels my obedience. Obedience fuels my love. And this virtuous cycle can go on and on and on and on and on!

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Total Victory!!

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on AppleSpotify, or Audible. 

“People outside the Christian tradition spend their time arguing the divinity of Christ. People inside the Christian tradition spend their time arguing the humanity of Christ.” —Jesus: A Theography by Leonard Sweet & Frank Viola

Jesus came to earth fully human. This cannot be overstated, as it is crucial to how we can defeat temptation.

Our First Parents (Adam and Eve) listened to the tempting words of the devil, which caused them to sin against God. By this treachery, they handed over the dominion of earth to satan, and he has used that to keep people bound in deathly fear since that time (see Hebrews 2:14-15). But at the moment of sin—even as God was pronouncing judgment—there was an implicit promise made of the salvation Jesus would bring. God’s promise was that Eve’s offspring would crush satan under His foot (Genesis 3:15).

This is why it was so important that Jesus be totally human in His work on earth, that He share in our humanity in every way (Hebrews 2:14, 17).

The devil has three weapons he uses: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1 John 2:16). Notice how he used these in his successful temptation of Adam and Eve—

  • The fruit was good for food = the lust of the flesh.
  • The fruit was pleasant to the eyes = the lust of the eyes.
  • The fruit was desirable to make one wise…to be like God = the pride of life.

Because this was successful for him, satan tempted the Second Adam (Jesus) using the exact same strategy—

  • Turn these stones to bread = the lust of the flesh.
  • I will give you the kingdom of the world and their glory = the lust of the eyes.
  • Cast yourself down from here and angels will protect you = the pride of life.

Jesus didn’t overcome these temptations because He was God. Jesus overcame them as a Man anointed by the Spirit of God! Jesus used the same weapons that are available to us: the Word of God and the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Not only do we have these two weapons, but we also have a victorious Savior who is helping us!

Because Jesus overcame temptation as a Man, He is able to help those who are being tempted (Hebrews 2:18).

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have One who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet He did not sin. (Hebrews 4:15)

Therefore He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them. (Hebrews 7:25)

Because Jesus overcame the temptations of satan as a man, you can too! 

To Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. (Jude 24-25)

If you have missed any of the messages in this series called Who Is Jesus?, you can find them all here.

►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? My Patreon supporters get behind-the-scenes access to exclusive materials. ◀︎◀︎