Ep 1266 | The Antichrist Is Here, You Already Know Who It Is & Why It Changes Everything

I am unashamed. What about you? Welcome back to Unashamed. I know it's a few days in between releases when you guys are hearing this, but for us we just were talking about Jace's harrowing tale of last night's interesting trip, I guess you would call it. It was. I think you survived. You survived. So while you were doing all that, because you and I were texting a little bit because we were trying to figure out when we were going to record today. Yeah, your instincts were right. I sent me a text about 1030 and was like, are you delayed? Because there's a lot of fog out here. And it went with Missy's story when she came to pick us up in the middle of nowhere, Arkansas. She couldn't see the road. And that's why I sent you that. because I had just, so we went, my grandkids, there's one place that they all can agree on, which is unfortunate for me because it's all the way out at the mall. It's Olive Garden. They all like the Olive Garden, which, you know, I'm okay with it. The restaurant? The restaurant. There's not much I can eat on there on my PhD lifestyle, but they all love it. All the grandkids, nobody argues. Like other places we go, I don't like that. So it's one of those, like, it's one of those restaurants. It's kind of from the, from back in the late nineties, early two thousands, that it's the one of the only ones that kind of hung in there. Right. Yeah. Hung in there. It's still kind of a thing. Yeah. And people love it. It's always crowded, but, but yesterday. So, so we took the grandkids out there and, uh, and mom wanted to go, which is great. I mean, that she's doing well enough to want to go out, you know? So she had been over to our house the night four and we cooked and, uh, Hawk and Bill came over, but I said, mom, We're going to go out to Olive Garden tomorrow night. I said, you want to go with this? Yeah. It's one of my favorites, you know, as she is. And then I thought she'd probably forget about it because then it was bad weather. And so then I thought it was raining earlier. And so I thought, well, she probably doesn't even remember. And then Anna said, she just had her friend text and say, are we still going to Olive Garden? And I said, well, the fact she remembered that, I'm excited. So I went by and got her. But then we get out in this, and it's just a soup, you know. I mean, it was really nasty. And by the time we got back and dropped her off, that's when I texted her. And I was like, man, this is nasty. Yeah. Nasty situation. Imagine flying in and out. Yeah, I cannot imagine that. I'm glad I was there. I will have to admit, it was the only event I've ever done while being soaking wet. So, interesting. So, Matty, make a mental note when you go do an event. Bring a change of clothes just in case it rains. Even if you're going to be back the same day. Of course, unfortunately, like it is, you go to a restaurant. So we go to the restaurant and they had this little, you know, got the menu, but then they got this little, we brought these back and it's in the middle of the table. So it's like a special thing. And we looked at, oh, you know, we hadn't seen that in a while. And so we ordered, mom did, Lisa did, I did off of that. So the woman, we order, it goes back, she comes back and she says, we're out of this. And I was like, oh man, I mean, why do you have it on the table if you don't have it? And so then, so mom had to change hers, Lisa had to change hers. And so then she goes back. Then she comes back two minutes later. And what I had ordered and now what mom had ordered, she said, we're out of the sauce that goes on that. And I was like, really? And then she says, but the chef says he can do this. And this guy, this is back to the sausage making. I was like, yeah, well, just do it. Just bring it out. We'll see what happens. It was really good. But I was like, why do you have things on the menu when you don't have them on the thing? Maybe that's why my dad never liked to eat out. No. And I'm kind of the same way. We just assume cook, but the grandkids love it, and you tend to do things for your grandkids you wouldn't do otherwise. Zach, you'll know one day that your kids are all getting married. It's funny because Ruth's four, and I feel like I'm in a weird spot. I'm like half dad, half granddad. It's a weird feeling, but she gets a lot more than our other kids got. She's not as well disciplined as the others were because we had a lot more energy back then. And we were like, and we thought we had to do it perfect. So we were ruling with an iron fist. And now we're ruling with just, well, be careful. You'll create another Jep, which is me chainsawing and him pulling a cart behind me, getting some sticks. Can I borrow some of that wood? He came over before I came up here tonight. And he's like, I have a chainsaw question. Of course, my house was just crazy. We had insurance people in there, which, by the way, the insurance guy, he was like, you know, the insurance will pay you for cleaning out your driveways, you know, with all my trees and all. Because I did it myself. And he said, so I just need to get your hours on that. And I thought, I said, about three hours. And he said, three? I said, yeah. I was thinking, well, you can do that quicker than three. hours i'm pretty good with the chainsaw i i was kind of and he said oh oh no i i'm just not used to dealing with people who are honest he said i thought you were gonna say three days i said well maybe four but you know i was like three but you had this man just gave you the inside track as to the whole problem with insurance in our society he literally all He had no plan on people being liars. Yeah, he looked at that big stack of wood, and he thought, three hours? I was like, three hours. I was pretty proud of it. Yeah, you were like, I'm impressed. Yeah, I was being honest. I thought, why are you shocked at integrity? But isn't that our society? It's our society. You are shocked when someone tells the truth. It's why the health care system is broken, because you get two prices. You get the price of corruption, and then you get the true price of something. Well, I even kind of chastised Missy a little bit because she was like, I mean, we're basically fine, you know. And I was like, well, these stains on the ceilings indicate to me that if you go up and look in that attic, there may be some trouble. Because there's two huge stains, you know, because of water leak. And she said, well, yeah, I mean, true. But, I mean, we're basically fine. And I was like, babe, he's out here to figure out the damage. And you're acting like, don't worry about it. Why is he here? There's literally trees. I was getting them out of the pool in a pair of chest waders. We called the pool guy. He comes out. He's like, I can't do this until this tree's out of the pool. Well, my pool is empty. My pool is empty. A pipe burst and drained my pool. Think about this because I was like, I'm going to get this tree out of my pool. And it's a tree limb. But it doesn't look very big on the picture. I don't know why, but I could not lift it. I had to use leverage. are heavier than they look yeah i mean it was probably you know bigger a little bigger around than your leg i guess but it's long i mean it was a big pine land if it had fallen on you it killed you dead that that honesty though is the way to do it that's that it jace you uh i don't know if you know this or not but uh your buddy jay stone i guess your son-in-law my son-in-law when i was in town why is he named my buddy he's he's my uh nephew-in-law and we're friends yeah yeah so he's just i'm sorry i'm not sarcasm he said he said it like he was about to say buddy yeah buddy little buddy jay now he said you got to watch this new thing we did uh the new episode i guess y'all tell him something like a duck hunt y'all went on and and there's a scene where you're in the blind this is it's on youtube uh and you're in the blind talking about the new duck call that they've come out with and it was the most hilarious way of reminding me of phil willie tells that story of phil like when he had two different duck calls at the place and phil's yeah you don't want to buy that expensive one grab grab this one over here this one i use and we'll say no we're trying to sell duck calls but you were talking about the new this new single read a duck call and it was hilarious the way you were doing it because you were kind of like it was a real honest frank discussion but i was like i bet they'll actually sell a bunch of duck calls like that because jace is having a real honest well it is shocking here's what happens and all my speeches and our our company was built on authenticity and honesty and there's a uh there's a craze that developed in the state of arkansas and they call it arkansas style and this year was the first year that i've ever gone to one of these places and and had actual success. So for years, I was like, they're talking about this Arkansas style, which is basically taking a duck call and wailing on this thing from the moment you get there to the time you leave. I mean, you wake up in the middle of the night. You get a headache from it. Oh yeah. It's like an auctioneer. Give me 10, give me 10. So what their thought is, is they're trying to sound like tons of ducks. Right. Because there's a lot of ducks in the woods, right? Yeah. So every time I would get a call in the duck call room that would do that, I would try to make it stop doing all that and just sound like one. And so it's kind of a corporate versus a one duck mentality. So financial resolutions are great, but let's be real, budgets don't reset on January 1st. So between post-holiday credit card bills and getting back to your regular routine can be tough because cash can be tight. The free upside app gets you cash back on daily essentials like gas, groceries, and dining. 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Now, to their credit, they backed off, and they were blowing this new call that literally people are trying to order because it is, I think, the best version of that out there because I have a couple of guys who I hunt with who that's all they use they're they're they're called cut downs and they're single reads and uh but they said this is it so I'm trusting them they're like you you have pulled it off and I was like well great because I can't even blow it and so I was saying that that I yes I've made fun of this but I did have that experience where it worked we killed 32 mallards in about an hour well that i'm not an idiot this this he's pragmatic i finally saw this saw this work because there were a ton of ducks and they had been used to all this racket because they were happy ducks and i thought there is a place for it so i i give it my blessing we'll sell it especially since my hard-headed buddies are saying, it's the bet. You've got it, and you don't even know what you have. And so that was kind of the bit we did. Because, you know, look, my brother and other people that work at Duck Command, they didn't like that I wasn't holding it up saying, now this is the best call you'll ever blow. I'm like, I don't use that thing. But I heard it's fantastic, and there is a place for it. And so I was brutally honest. What's funny about that, Jase, is that the event I was at last week is a Q&A. And, of course, Q&As, you get everything. You know, you get stuff about the show. You get stuff about what we just talked about. But some woman asked me, she said, I notice when I watch your family, you have these things around your neck. What are they called? And I said, a lanyard? And she said, yeah. And she said, and they have all these different kind of duck calls, all these calls. I said, yeah. She said, why? Don't you just need one? And I said, well, because that's how we make money. And, of course, the crowd laughed because I was like, we need a bunch of guys. But you were joking. I was joking. There's a lot of ducks. Well, so what I said was, then I explained that you and Dad came up with, I said, there's a lot of different birds, and they all make different sounds. I said, the mallard hit. So I went through the little five-minute discussion of the duck call sounds with her. And I said, so when you're seeing somebody, and then I explained to her that if you're sitting in front of a bunch of decoys, and you have people in your blind blowing different kind of bird sounds, it's because that's who's out there in front. We're trying to make the ducks think that. So it was just that she just thought, why would you need more than one? Because you only have one mouth. Well, look, this is interesting. I didn know we were going to talk about this but I have in my hand viewer mail Viewer mail This was all my day This is viewer mail segment When I came in Are you nervous right now Manny I opened this card before we started this podcast and read it and went huh and I threw it over to the side But now that y'all brought it up, Jace, my husband asked me to write this, which is weird. Why wouldn't he write it? Regarding your interest in developing a new call. So I thought, ooh, where's this going? For a black-bellied whistling duck, which I will admit, if you'd asked me about that two years ago, I'd never heard of one or ever seen one. But we've been inundated by, which I call them Mexican tree whistling ducks. or tree whistling ducks, some version of that. There's a little pond right up there by the church that there's about 100 of them. Well, guess what? The state of Louisiana, I'm not sure if this is global as far as America, but they actually add, you can shoot six of them. Really? Oh, yeah. Look, they're everywhere. But I haven't seen one in the wild during legal duck season. I only see them in the spring is when I see them. But I heard they're actually good to eat. Well, you know, a Cajun. I was somewhere, and a Cajun said, have you tried them Mexican whistling ducks? A Cajun doesn't eat anything, though. Well, I was waiting to meet a Cajun to tell me if it was okay. Because that's how we've developed all the things we can eat. Don't listen to your biology teacher in school if you're young. You need to find a Cajun and say, how is this? Just think about the things. Flick and butter make it work. We introduced to the world to eat oysters and crawfish. Oh, yeah. That came from Cajuns. They looked at it and said, let's try it. That's right. But they were like, let's try it. And you stand back and look out of the way. Put it on a cracker, dude. Put it on a cracker, dude. But here's what I found interesting, Zach. We live in Gainesville, Florida. Oh, come on. Go Gators. Well, this is where you're. I mean, you don't need to worry about a duck call if you're living in Gainesville. There are no ducks in Gainesville. Well, evidently they have a lot of black-bellied whistling ducks. And they were like, call us if you want to study the sounds. So I guess they're recording. Oh, yeah. But I've heard them. So who is this? Thank you, Suzette, but I know what one sounds like. But that's not a bad idea. And so I said all that to say this. I remember the maddest I've ever seen my brother when he took over the company was my dad said, I'm going to make a video called the Ten Commandments of duck hunting. And I'm going to rank in order of importance, one through ten, the things you do. Well, my brother couldn't get past the back where it named the Ten Commandments because, look, duck calls was number seven. and willie come in there and said uh because you know my dad was intimidating and be very honest uh look i got a recommendation on the this i love the idea project you're you're segueing you know the law and the bible with duck hunting you know the genesis nine great so he he He set him up to say, but we need to move number seven to number one. And my dad said, can't do it. And Willie's like, why not? And he's like, well, that's not the truth. This is the truth of the Ten Commandments. If we're going to call them Ten Commandments, they've got to be right. And he's like, what's your beef there, Willie? Willie's like, we make duck calls and sell them. This is how we make a living. But if you find that somewhere on the Internet, I'm sure it's out there. Guess what's number seven? Duck calls. Duck calls. It's the order of importance. Well, it reminded me of a contribution I made later in years. When we were doing Celebrate Recovery and 12-step stuff, you know, AA, someone in the organization, I don't know if it was you or dad or whoever, came up with the idea of a duckaholic. you know and so then we had to have the 12 steps to be a duck to be a to be a duckaholic because we we were you know we were embracing we were twisting that as a positive not obviously an alcoholic but a duckaholic and so i helped contribute to writing the 12 steps of a duckaholic and they're still out there somewhere i guess too i don't know i need to try to find that somewhere i got an interesting um email from a from a listener i was trying to pull it up i can't remember the gentleman's name, but it was the most hilarious thing I've ever read. I was on my way down to see you guys a few weeks back, and we were getting a little bit hungry, so we stopped somewhere in Georgia at a Chick-fil-A, because that's what you did. It's about the only fast food place I eat at. I stopped at the Chick-fil-A. And that's the home base for Chick-fil-A. It is. Atlanta, Georgia. And I noticed this couple that were up there at the counter, and they caught my attention because the woman was just so nice. I saw her talking to some of the staff members and giving them hugs. I mean, she seems like a really sweet lady. I think she had on like a Harley Davidson T-shirt, and her husband looked like one of us, had a kind of bigger beard, white beard. So he sends an email to whatever the email account is. I don't even know what it is. And then Jen forwarded it to me, and he said, I think I might have just saw you, Zach, in whatever Georgia at the Chick-fil-A. and he said you looked at me like i this guy knows who i am he said and i looked at you like i know who you are he said and then he said you went down and sat down to eat your chicken sandwich and he said i had to go to the bathroom do number one this is on the email he says i go in the bathroom he said but i couldn't wash my hands because i was going deer hunting later on that afternoon i didn't want to wash my hands and have that soap smell on my hands and i because i know you're probably wondering why i didn't introduce myself to you so i'm telling you why it's just i came out and when i saw you eating your fries and you had your hands on your fries i was like i can't shake this man's hand in a good conscience knowing what i just didn't do in the bathroom so i just walked on by and gave you a nod uh but that was me if you were wondering I was like, I've never gotten that same. That was an interesting way to let you know that. Wherever you are, I saw you, and I did see you, by the way. He probably saved you a bout of hepatitis A right there. It's hilarious. I kind of appreciate the honesty. I do, too. When we're talking about honesty, that seems to be the theme of our podcast. To put that in letter form got a little weird. Yeah. But that's okay. Well, either the guy's really weird or he's really funny. One of the two. I think he was being funny. And if that's you and you were being humorous, that was hilarious. If that was you, you weren't trying to be funny. That was a little weird. Just going to say. You know, sometimes it's really difficult to find a doctor that you actually like it. Sometimes it feels like you're discovering a diamond in the rough. Sure, you want someone to network nearby with open time slot. But let's be honest, that's just a start. 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I mean, I do think it's bookended on that in verse 1 and verse 5 where he says, this is the message. Yeah, right. He introduces Jesus as the life and our fellowship with him. And there's a little theme in the letter or sermon where he's, you're trying to figure out, because he'll say, like in verse 4 that we've read, or verse 3 that we've read many times when he says, and our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. And so you're like, well, which one? Because he echoes that in the last verse where he says, and that we may know him who is true. We are in him who is true even in his son, Jesus Christ. He is the true God of eternal life. And you're like, well, which one? And the answer is yes. Yes. He, he, he's concluded that this man that he went around with and followed is God. Right. In a human form. Right. And I think it's incredible. Yeah. And that's the underlying theme of the whole book. So he, he has these two bookends where he's like, this is the message. God is light in him. There's no darkness. And then when he gets to chapter three and verse 11, he's like, this is the message. Right. You heard from the beginning. Right. We should love one another. Right. So we made that contrast in the last podcast about light and dark, which took us down through verse 11 of chapter 2. But then he does something interesting. It's almost like a poem or a song. It seems like a song to me. It's like a refrain. Remember, it was at a house church, so they probably sang it. I mean, some of these letters, they would definitely do that. And so he gives this little repetitive verse of a song or poem. And I thought it was interesting the way he frames it because he basically is talking to this house church. And he's describing at every level of growth he would be. He says, and I want to read it. Verse 12, it says, I write to you, dear children. And James, you said how many times he say, I write to you. He said it over and over. I write to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name. And we talked about that with the atonement idea. Then he says, I write to you fathers. So we went from children to fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning, which is back to his reference in the first four verses when he talked about the creation and the role of Christ. I write to you young men. So he's addressing three different groups here because you have overcome the evil one. and then he repeats it again i write to your dear children because you have known the father i write to you fathers because you have known him who is from the beginning it's like a song i write to you young men because you are strong and the word of god lives in you and you have overcome the evil one so it's it's almost like at any stage the way i read it was any stage of where you are in your growth as a Christian or even as a human being at every level, whether you're very young, you get into the deal where you're building a family and you get into life later, you're a father and you become a patriarch of your own clan. And at every stage of those, there's different things that motivate us. And I just thought it was really interesting the way he framed that. And Zach, we were talking about in the last podcast how the darkness tends to always be enemy to relationships. Whether it's marriage, whether it's just taking advantage of some person and not seeing this person as a person, using people. We talked about all the darkness of that. And it's not having a concern about relationships. And so John, I think right in the middle of this whole conversation, because the next three verses we've talked a lot about, and that was the comparison of the worlds, he sets that up by reminding people at any stage of relationship with other people, it's so important to be a man of God. I mean, this is how you overcome evil. This is how you go back to the beginning. This is how you know who God is. And he says those themes over and over and over again. I just think it's a beautiful clip to be able to remind us about why this is so important, what we're discussing. Well, the reason why darkness of kills the relationship is because to be in relationship is to actually be seen and known And so that kind of the epicenter of what it means to be in a relationship that you know each other and that you known by each other So going back to the Garden of Eden, you think about what blocked intimacy in that scenario when they ate the fruit and became sinners for the very first time. What was the result of that in terms of how did it block the relationship first with God, then with each other? what they did was they they they blocked themselves from being seen and they did it with fig leaves but the but the goal is let's put a barrier up in between your sight and then and then me and that way you can't see the real me and so what darkness does it just it just blinds sight right so think about the idea of darkness is you can't see in it you're you're stumbling around you can't see you can only like just kind of feel your way through it but you can't really see or know what's on the other side of you because everything is dark. And then when you think about, well, how would you be able to see, we just turn the lights on. You turn the light on and all of a sudden, oh, wow, I can see the other person standing there. And now we can actually look at me in my face and talk to me. And you know, this is true when you ever like, if you've been married long enough and your wife may have said something like this, I just, I don't feel like I'm seen, you know, or some language about that. Like Jill said it to me before. I just don't think you see me. I don't think you notice me. I don't feel like you're listening to me. That's darkness. That's literally what it is. That's why the darkness is actually a killer of intimacy and a killer of relationships because it blocks us from knowing one another. I wanted to bring up in that poem where he says, you have overcome the evil one. Because later he's going to say that the whole world in 1 John 5, verse 19, is under the control of the evil one. You say, well, how do I overcome the evil one? Well, when you look up this word in the Greek lexicon, fascinating enough, in John 16, 33, you find it where he says, I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. in this world, because he's fixed to launch into don't love the world and all the cravings, the lusts. We talked about that last time. But in this world, you'll have trouble. But take heart. I have overcome the world. And so the connection to the evil one to the world is obvious. Ephesians 2 speaks of this. There's a spirit of the evil one that is at work in the world to take them captive, prisoners, make them slaves, all these different verses. Ephesians 6, we talked about that. Yeah, and he does it through lies and murder and mayhem and death and deceit, deceiver and accusation and all this. And remember, he's not immortal. It's not dualism, right, Zach? I mean, it's not God and Satan as if they're equals. He's a created being, but he has a network, as Joe Beam describes it in his great book about spiritual warfare, seeing the unseen. It's a network of evil from another realm, but that impacts us heavily. And it's not dualism because that realm was created. Created, correct. Another place this idea is used is Romans 12, 21, do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. And so in his letter in 1 John, or sermon, you see this idea of the world come up right after this. As he's talking in the relationships and fathers and sons, you've overcome the evil. And he says that twice. He also says it in verse 14 of chapter 2. but I want you to notice where it uses that word again because I think this is the key verse because we're fixing to talk about who is this Antichrist or the spirit of the Antichrist is what it's really all about here from John's perspective and we can read this later the first three verses about testing every spirit of chapter 4 but when he gets to verse 4 of chapter 4 I love this you dear children, because there's that same phrase that he starts the song, I write to you dear children because your sins have been forgiven. I write to young men because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you dear children because you have known the Father. And remember at this point, this is John the elder. He's always been an apostle, but now he's an older man. Yeah, and everybody's a child compared to him at this stage. You, dear children, are from God and overcome them. Well, who is them? Well, the spirit of the Antichrist, this is chapter 4, verse 3, which you have heard is coming, and even now is already in the world. I try to keep my dogs happy because they're performing a function. They are the guard dogs. And little Hazel, she knows we have an arrangement. She barks at potential intruders, and I give her treats from Rough Greens. So dogs show up for us every day. The least we can do is take care of them, and that's why we love Rough Greens. We love our dogs. As they get older, they get a little slower, and you're cleaning messes a lot more often. And traditional dog food is missing probiotics and enzymes and omega oils and the live vitamins and minerals that your dog needs to digest and absorb food. Rough Greens is America's number one dog supplement. You sprinkle it right on their food. It's packed with all live nutrients that they need. Plus, it's all natural and it's made right here in the USA. Rough Greens is helping dogs feel younger, more energetic, and healthier than they have in years. Your dog could be one of them. Jason, when our dogs line up, they're happy, right, to get their Rough Greens? They're happy. It's a treat that keeps on giving. My dogs look better. Their coats look better. They're healthier. And we're asking you to get a free jumpstart trial bag for your dog. You just cover the shipping. Go to roughgreens.com. Use the discount code UNASHAMED. Rough Greens. We make any dog food better. You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them. This passage should be up on your wall somewhere. because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. Well, you say, well, who is in us? Well, he said that in chapter 3 and verse 24. He says, those who obey his commands live in him and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us. We know it by the spirit he gave us. So then he uses the same word again in chapter 5 and verse 4, this overcomer. being an overcomer. When it says, for everyone born of God, well, this goes back to this picture that he described in John 1, being born from God, not of human decision or natural descent, but born from above, or born again, as he mentions in chapter 3. For everyone born of God, a new creation, think that, overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. I just think it's fantastic. If you put all that together, it's very powerful. Oh, yeah. It's interesting when you think about who is the Antichrist. I mean, you know, this is a big discussion because I grew up, you know, every time we get like a Democratic president or something, people in my circle would be like, that's the Antichrist. or Bill Gates. He's the Antichrist. Obama's the Antichrist. Bill Gates is the Antichrist. Elon Musk is the Antichrist. And right now, I haven't paid attention too much to the discussion, but even Peter Thiel is going around having this conversation about the Antichrist. I don't really know his perspective on it, but this is like a big-time pop culture idea, particularly in the evangelical underbelly with the Left Behind series. and all that that came out back in the, I don't know when that came out, the 90s. And so this idea is there's this figure who's going to come and he's going to set up this counter kingdom and he's going to draw all these people away. Zach, you remember the series, and I think they've now redone them again. What was it called? The Omen? Where the kid was born and he had the 666 under his hairline. And, you know, it was like a famous movie back in the 70s, I think, and it was a series that came out. And it was just what you're talking about. It was all based on this idea of this Antichrist, and it was all pointed through prophecy and scripture. And, you know, and the whole thing was that, you know, he would destroy people. And the movies were kind of entertaining, but I never understood the background of it when I was a kid. It was just it was a scary movie. But that's kind of what you're talking about. Yeah, I think it's like we want that to be true in some capacity because it's easier to think, man, if there's just a head of the snake that we can chop off and then the whole thing's done. Yeah. That's a lot more comforting because we have a direct target that we can access and we have a direct battle we can engage in. We got super duper clarity on it. But what the picture painted here is a little more different because it's not necessarily singling the idea of the Antichrist, according to John. and a particular person, but as Jace pointed out, more of the spirit of the Antichrist. And it's not necessarily a future event either, because he says, verse 18, just to reiterate, children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard, that Antichrist is coming. So now many Antichrists have come. So it's whatever, it's tying this idea of the spirit of the Antichrist in the current age that they were currently in in that moment. And I would argue, probably along with a host of other people, that that spirit continues today. There's actually any Christ today. And I don't know this idea, and I get it. I know there's a lot of diversity of view on this, but to single this out into a particular person, we're trying to figure out and identify that. Yeah, I don't think that's the point of the text here. I mean, this is clearly talking about a particular kind of spirit But as Jay said in the last podcast, he said, what did you say? You ended it with the way you phrased it. It's almost like they're anti-Christ or something. I forgot. You like broke the word down, but when you said it, it was like. I think we're overthinking. I mean, if you look at where this word is used in the New Testament, do you have any ideas how many times it's used? Anti-Christ. I don't. I think you'll be shocked. It is used five times. four of them are in first john yeah and the other one is in second john you're like what well how many books have been written yeah and movies made all the stuff we were just talking about and first john four which is mentioned seems to kind of clarify what he meant by this and uh it's not very hard i mean it's like we were talking about hunting before if someone is anti-meat they call them a vegetarian or vegan or whatever yeah or you know the animal rights or pita whatever what do they want to call and you see it's not like one person it's a spirit that you you can you can catch pretty quickly they're like someone to come up and they're like oh i don't you know i don't eat chicken or uh yeah i was like well here's some shrimp no i don't i don't eat it's like what do you eat you know things that grow oh okay well you're so it doesn't really have to be like it's one president somewhere who is the anti-meat person you know what i'm saying yeah so because the vegetarian and chief i mean we get it i can recognize that spirit yeah pretty quickly and i don't care i don't care that you want to just eat things that grow. Fine. Dad would always say that. He'd say, hey, I love veggies. They're delicious, but don't tell me I can't eat my meat for crying out loud. But I think you have to read chapter 4 where it says, dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. Because I wanted to read that because even in Ephesians 2 talking about the evil one, it uses that same idea when it says just just think about how this how this flows he says as for you you were dead in your transgressions and sins in which you used to live when you followed the ways of the world and the ruler of the kingdom of the air there is an evil one but he is a created being but then there's a common it says the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. Well, you can pick up on the spirit. I mean, the evil one is a created being. But if you talk to people, well, he's around every corner. He's in your bedroom. That's what Zach and I were talking about. He's not an immortal. Omnipotent. Omnipresent. Omnipresent individual. Now, if you come face to spirit with him, the actual entity, I'm sure that would be frightening. Terrifying. But, you know, the earth's a big place. But the spirit of that is all around. I mean, you can pick up on it. So I think that's the better way to view it. I think what happened is when you get to where is it 2 Thessalonians 2 The man of lawlessness Well it uses the man of lawlessness Well there the Antichrist But it never says Antichrist You just made that as part of this Antichrist theme that you going with on who is the Antichrist Look, I've got a guy who I love dearly. He's one of my best friends in the world. And he got to 2 Thessalonians 2 in his Bible study, and he's never gone forward or backwards. he wants to know who the man of sin is and and he wants a detailed account and he wants his name yesterday because he's like nothing else can happen until that guy's revealed and uh i usually go that same passage i was like the one in us is greater yeah than any spirit out there and any man and i was like i think it was a localized issue in second thessalonians with a global impact because it's just like the spirit of the Antichrist, the man of sin. I don't need to know exactly if that's one person. I see that in men everywhere. Because if you read 2 Thessalonians 2, it kind of gives you a picture. He's in cahoots with the evil one, so it's not the evil one. That's what trumps people up on it. But I'll just read it. I think it's worth a read. Before you do, let me say this, because I think that framing is important of kind of what you just said. When you look at the whole context of 1 John, the whole book, the whole letter, he's not framing up an argument of the church versus Rome or the church versus a future dictator that's going to come in the future. That's not the framing of the text. The framing of the text is truth versus deception, a life outside of Christ versus life inside of Christ. That it's truth versus deception. And so it's the illumination. That's why the darkness and the light. It's it. That's that's the how we interpret, you know, this whole discussion is that. And when you when you're seeing it in that lens, I think it allows you to think about this more. Probably how the text reads naturally more of a spirit that is deceiving people. In this case, you know, I would argue that this is people who are part of the church, have left the church. like maybe those who have fully deconstructed and now using that deconstruction platform to draw other people away from Christ, like explicitly trying to pull people out of the kingdom. They're trying to say, no, don't follow him. It's a lie. I've been there, done that. I think this is like false teachers and like real false teachers, not like just accusations or throwing at people, but real teachers who have infiltrated the church and are trying to destroy it from within. So, Jace, when I was getting near 60, I had a realization that I was a bit overweight. Would you concur? Sometimes in life, you have to state the obvious. So, well done. So, I tried it on my own. Didn't work out very well. And look, I've tried every diet that you can try. Paleo, keto, Weight Watchers. I've tried them all. 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That's 864-644-1900. Or you can visit myphdweightloss.com. So you have 2 Thessalonians 1 in verse 6 where it's like, God is just. He'll pay back trouble to those who trouble you, give relief to your trouble. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those, which is really a theme in 1 John, those who don't know God. because John keeps bringing that up. You know him. You know him from the beginning. You have this relationship. You're in this partnership, fellowship, participating with the triune God on a daily minute basis. Right. So it's not going to be like you stand before God and you're like, oh, did I make it? Well, you're in him. this has been this relationship has been going on way more intimate than a correspondence you're walking in him in the light and praying and talking and representing and so it's not going to be a shock right either way but you deep down everyone knows and that's why i asked the question i asked it last night my event i'm like are you ready to meet your maker it's a simple question you stand before God, how are you going to be? Don't be surprised when he comes back. That's 1 Thessalonians 5.4. Remember 1 Thessalonians 4 is about we certainly, we don't grieve like the rest of men who have no hope. So why am I playing? You know, it could have crashed. Guess what? Okay. You ready? I hate it, you know, but for the people I'm leaving behind, I'll miss my family for a little bit. But, oh, I'll see them again. I mean, this is part of our journey. But when you read that, so then it goes to 2 Thessalonians 2, so that you already got that kind of like, well, this is the context, him coming back. But watch how this gets so distorted. Because it says, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus and us being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy report or letter supposed to have come from us saying that the day of the Lord has already come. Well, this is not unlike 1 John where they had a group of people saying, hey, this Jesus, he's not the son of God. Right. And he basically calls them anti-Jesus. That's right. Because they're denying that Jesus is the son of God, which is why the Antichrist got developed. I think people are overthinking this. Yeah. You can look at your life and just watch you and say, are you in Jesus or are you anti-Jesus? Right. It's pretty evident. Yeah. I don't think it's that hard to figure out. And we have the perspective of history to look back to see just that. This word, dowsetism, which comes from the Greek word dalkio, which means to appear or to be seen. So what they were saying was, Jesus, he looked like he was a man, but he wasn't really a man. Well, right. So that's where this whole thing came from. And then Gnosticism comes later after John, which then takes that even further. So, I mean, I'm saying historically we can look back and see what's developing in this mindset about saying that Jesus really wasn't here in the flesh. Well, that's what they were saying. Yeah. I think some of it, though, I don't know if it's just that someone is not in Christ. I think these are people who are intentionally trying to persuade people and deceive people away from Christ. Because the reason why I say that is because in verse 26, he says, the reason why I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. So these are I think these are and lead you astray. He says. Yeah. Yeah. So like you and this is this is really important because there are. And look, I mean, especially like now with TikTok culture, Instagram. Somebody was telling me the other day about a particular professor who's done it. And I don't know if this guy was ever a Christian or not, but he's certainly anti-Christ. And everything that he's doing is trying to pull people away from Christ. And this particular person, like their faith was really damaged by this person's particular this particular person's content, because they were making these really incredibly compelling cases of why the Bible is not real, why Jesus is who he said he was, all these things. And this person was being drawn, they were being deceived. And a lot of what they were listening to wasn't even rooted in truth. And it was so funny because Max has been in a conversation with this person. I was one of his friends. And he found another person on the Internet who had addressed all of this other commentator's accusations that were just blatant lies, and they were completely fabricated. They weren't embedded in the truth. And so Max was so excited because he's like, yeah, this guy was a liar in the first place. And so I think that that's more the spirit of the Antichrist. That's more that like we're intentionally trying to shipwreck this thing. I mean, I could be wrong, but I do think that the text lends more towards like that as the Antichrist. Well, we agree. I'm saying, though, the backdrop I'm giving is there's only two camps. You have leaders. You have leaders. In both camps. Yeah. And so this is the leadership of said camp. Yeah. Human and spiritual beings who are actively trying to destroy the other camp. I mean, and I think that's what's happened. And my whole point in bringing up 2 Thessalonians 2 doesn't say Antichrist. It's this man of lawlessness who sets himself up in the temple of God. What verse is that? Verse 4. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or his worship so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God. Well, the temple was destroyed in AD 70. And I'm like, I think we had a local phenomenon that continues from then till now of people setting themselves up as God. They're called false teachers, men of sin and lawlessness. I think when you try to figure out exactly who this person is You're doing yourself an injustice It's a pattern that will continue until Jesus comes back Which he, that is the context These people will be revealed Because I know we're almost out of time I wanted to read the last couple verses Then you can tie it up So in verse 9 it says The coming of the lawless one And remember in Greek That's translated into English It's appearing or coming. The word is a tricky word. It doesn't necessarily mean like coming at a later date. It's revealed. It appears. Sometimes it says Jesus is coming back, but sometimes it says he will appear. And keep that in mind. But it will be in accordance with the work of Satan. So within that camp, you have different aspects of leadership who people are setting themselves up as God. And they had told these Thessalonians, oh, that's already happened. Jesus has already come back. And so now they've got, but they have evil intent in mind. And I know that because verse 10, it says, they do all these counterfeit miracles, signs, wonders, every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish. Here's the bottom line, because they refuse to love the truth or walk in the light. And so be saved. And for this reason, God sends them a powerful delusion so that they'll believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth and have delighted in wickedness. Go ahead. Yeah, and I think it ties directly into the very end of 1 John 2 because what he says, to your point, and I framed it up earlier, it's not church versus Rome, church versus future evil dictator. It's truth versus deception, which you just said. I mean, that's the delusion, the truth, they refuse to love the truth. And then if you read this, he says, I write this to you about those who are trying to deceive you. But here's the contrast. But the anointing that you have received. So somehow, if you're in Christ, you've received a particular kind of anointing. And listen how this plays into the temple language. You've received an anointing from him who abides in you. Who abides in you? The Holy Spirit abides in you. So now we're the temple. And because of that, he says here, you have no need that anyone should teach you. No more central authority leadership where you got to go into the temple and sit like a bird. They just feed you the worms. No, no, no. You actually have the spirit in you. You don't need to be taught, but you have his anointing that teaches you about everything. And guess what? It is true. And there's no lie in it just as he has taught you, abide in him. That's the picture. The picture is about the participation in the life of Christ through the indwellment of the Holy Spirit who does guide you in all truth. I don't need to be taught. Can I learn from other people? Yes. But I don't have to go under any kind of centralized authority to receive revelation from the Holy Spirit about God. I have his Holy Spirit living in me and I have his word right here in front of me. That's been inspired by the Holy Spirit that tells me what truth is. I love it. The deep truth of the Holy Spirit. You got him. So we'll discuss this more next time on Unashamed. Thanks for listening to the Unashamed podcast. Help us out by leaving a rating and review on Apple podcast. 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