(1.) There will be perils from the world without. We have already
learned from the language of our blessed Lord that there will be
“distress of nations with perplexity, men’s hearts failing them for fear,
and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth.” We
are told in St. Mark {73} that there shall be “wars and rumours of wars,”
that “nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and
there shall be earthquakes in divers places; and there shall be famines
and troubles; these are the beginning of sorrows.” It is of course
impossible but that the people of God should be deeply affected by this
awful convulsion of the moral atmosphere of the world. When there is a
universal earthquake in society, all must feel the shock; when the storm
bursts around us, all must be more or less affected by the crash.
(2.) We must, therefore, reckon this coming convulsion of society as one
of the leading causes of the peculiar perils of the latter days. But
there are plain intimations in the Word of God that the chief source of
peril is to be found within the visible church itself. An enemy within
the citadel is always more dangerous than an enemy without; and such an
enemy is plainly predicted in the Bible. Our text describes not the
opposition of infidelity, but the corruption of Christianity; and draws
our thoughts not to the conflicting powers of the world, but to the
degenerate principles of the church. “For men shall be lovers of their
own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to
parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce breakers,
false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
traitorous, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of
God, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.” There
is nothing here of wars or rumours of wars, of the array of earthly
monarchs against the cross; the danger here predicted is found within the
body of professors, and consists in a wide spread, deep-rooted apostacy
from the faith. Nor does this apostacy lead to the open and avowed
rejection of the Gospel. Would that it did! The apostate body retains
its visible profession, and parades its high-sounding name of
Christianity, for (verse 5) it has “a form of godliness,” while it denies
its power. Though ignorant of the truth, these false professors do not
professedly reject it, for they are “ever learning and never able to come
to a knowledge of the truth.” Thus are they reprobate concerning the
faith. To be reprobate implies appearance, pretension, profession. Tin
is not reprobate unless it be passed as silver, nor the infidel reprobate
unless he assume the name of Christianity. The reprobate persons,
therefore, described in our text must retain their place amongst
professors, they must have the form of godliness, the bright appearance
of some precious metal, yet when tested and tried by the Word of God,
must be found to be a base coinage, reprobate concerning the faith.
From these remarks it must be plain to all that the peculiar peril of the
latter day consists in the corruption of Christianity by a body of men
who all the while retain its form; of men who, with a high-sounding
profession, resist the truth as it is in Jesus. The same appears with no
less distinctness in 1 Tim. iv. 1–3, “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly
that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to
seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy;
having their conscience seared with a hot iron; forbidding to marry, and
commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received
with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.” There can
be no doubt that in both passages the Holy Spirit is warning us of the
same danger; for in both the leading features are the same. The evil
springs up not without the church to resist, but within the church to
corrupt it. The deadly plant has its root in the garden of the Lord.
“Some shall _depart_ from the faith.” There is no rejection of the
visible profession of the Gospel, for the description given applies not
to infidelity but to degeneracy; it is a departure from the faith, not
from the name of Christianity. “Forbidding to marry, and commanding to
abstain from meats.” So the influence exerted is on Christian brethren,
for they seek to bind the yoke around the neck of those which “believe
and know the truth.”
These two passages are enough to show that the apostacy of professors,
and not the assault of infidels, is the great source of peril in the
latter days. But there is one further passage which we cannot pass
unnoticed, namely, 2 Thess. ii. 3–11. {76a} In verse 3 we are plainly
told that before the day of Christ shall come there must be a falling
away, a revealing of the man of sin, the son of perdition. “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.” The connexion of the passage with those just considered
appears more distinctly in the Greek than in the English, where the
sentence stands. “Except there come _the_ {76b} falling away,” the
expression “_the_” connecting it plainly with the other prophecies of the
Bible, and the general expectation of the Church. The connexion also
with the latter days of the world’s history is proved distinctly by the
fact that the man of sin is to be destroyed by the brightness of our
Lord’s return, “whom the Lord shall consume with the Spirit of his mouth
and destroy with the brightness of his coming.” We may, therefore,
regard this chapter as giving an account of the same apostacy as that
alluded to in the other texts. And now mark its character. It springs
up in the church itself. Apostacy means departure or decline, and
therefore, as we remarked in the text from Timothy, it is not an infidel
power rising up against us to attack, but a degenerate power growing up
in the midst of us to corrupt. As it springs up within the church so
does it retain its place there. “It sits in the temple of God.” The
church of God is often spoken of as a temple, as in 1 Cor. iii. 16, “Know
ye not that ye are the temple of God?” {77} And to sit in the temple of
God implies that it occupies the seat, retains the name, and assumes the
sanctity of the church of God. So again the words, “Sheweth himself that
he is God,” point not to the infidel but to the professor, to one
usurping, not attacking the sovereignty of Jehovah. The man of sin does
not deny God’s existence, but usurps God’s authority. But when thus
seated in the temple of God he is guilty of most awful sin. He sets
himself above God; he displays himself as though he were God; he “shows
himself that he is God;” he assumes God’s attributes; he lays claim to
the powers and even titles of Jehovah. The elements of this apostacy
were at work even in the days of the apostle. The seed was even then
sown, the deadly leaven was already fermenting in the church. “The
mystery of iniquity doth already work.” The time, however, was not yet
come for the revealing or manifestation of his character and power.
There was a certain restraining force which then kept him in. But this
force was not to last for ever, for he “that letteth should be taken
away, and then should that wicked be revealed.” This restraining force
has always been explained as that of the Roman empire. The early church
never questioned it, and it is a fact stated on good authority, and
worthy of the deepest consideration, that the primitive Christians used
to pray in their public worship for the preservation of the empire of
pagan Rome, because they were persuaded from this prophecy, that when it
fell the man of sin should be established on its ruins. But there is one
other feature in this man of sin to be most carefully noted by the
church. It does not refer to any single individual, but to a long series
of apostate professors. It has been thought by some that the man of sin
will be some single individual; one glance, however, at the passage will
suffice to show that it must refer to a long series of successors. The
whole period between the date of the epistle and the final coming of our
blessed Lord is divided in the prophecy between “him that letteth” {78}
and “the man of sin.” He that letteth then existed, and would continue
till the man of sin took his place. The man of sin again would retain
his place till the Lord Jesus appeared in glory. The two together,
therefore, occupy a period of almost 1800 years. They cannot, therefore,
both be individuals. One at least must represent a series of successors.
But the two expressions are equally personal. “He that letteth” (ὁ
κατέχων) is a form of expression quite as personal as “the man of sin.”
It would be inconsistent therefore to say that one represents a series,
and the other an individual. They must be both successions or both
individuals. The latter supposition we have already shown to be
impossible, the former we firmly believe to be the truth.
The apostacy, therefore, is not a sudden and passing outbreak of
corruption just in advance of the advent of our Lord, but a deep-rooted,
long-existing, departure from the faith, handed down from age to age, and
spreading its baneful influence from the breaking up of the Roman empire
to its final destruction at the coming of the Lord in glory. Now it is
plain that the existence of such a body must render the latter days
indeed perilous to the saints of God. It possesses every influence of
every worldly kind; the influence of secular power, rising up as the
successor to the empire of Rome; the authority of ecclesiastical
position, sitting in the temple of God; the cunning of deep
seductiveness, being itself the mystery of iniquity; the association of
long-continued influence, spreading on from century to century; with the
direct support of Satan himself, “for his coming is after the working of
Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders.” {80} Such is the
apostacy against which the saints of God are called to take their stand,
and with reference to which it is predicted by the Spirit that “in the
last days perilous times shall come.”
But where are we to look for this apostacy? It is described in prophecy:
can it be traced in history? It is predicted in the word: can it be
found in fact? Is the man of sin yet seated in the temple of God? I
should not be a faithful servant of my God, if I did not express my deep
conviction that this most perilous apostacy is the Papal system of the
Church of Rome. For mark the close correspondence between the words of
the prophecy, and the facts of history. The man of sin, according to the
prophecy, was to spring up in the bosom of the church itself. Who shall
deny that this is the case with the Romish popedom? The man of sin was
to sit in the temple of God. The Pope of Rome declares himself that he
sits as Christ’s vicar in the chair of Peter, and sways the sceptre of
universal dominion in the church. The man of sin represents a long
succession, maintaining the same principles, and heading the same
apostacy from the truth: the exact counterpart of the popes of Rome.
The history of the man of sin is marked by three important dates. His
principles were working secretly in the days of the apostles. He would
be revealed or made manifest at the breaking up of the Roman empire. He
would be destroyed at the coming of our blessed Lord. The two first of
these dates exactly tally with the history of the Romish popedom. From
many passages in the Epistles it may be gathered that its principles were
working secretly when the apostles wrote them. {81} As the empire
declined the Bishop of Rome rose in power, till at length, when the
Emperor was taken out of the way, the Bishop stepped into his place,
asserted himself to be Christ’s vicar, and pronounced himself Lord of all
the authorities of the known world. The words therefore can allude to no
later heresy at some future time to arise within the church, for the
mystery was already working, and the public development was to take place
when the Roman empire was destroyed. Of course the third date cannot yet
be tried by history. It may serve, however, to fix the prophecy on the
Church of Rome, for it proves that it can refer to none of the early
heresies in the church; they have long since vanished, and cannot be
destroyed by the brightness of Christ’s appearing. The history of the
Church of Rome then exactly tallies with the prophecy, and _nothing else
can_. But what shall we say of the awful assumption predicted of the man
of sin? Can that be charged on the Romish popedom? It saith, “Who
opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God or that is
worshipped.” With sorrow of heart we are compelled to acknowledge that
we fear it is one of the marked features of his character. See how he
has dared to tamper with the commands of God himself. I have myself seen
a catechism, in which the second commandment is actually struck out of
the decalogue of God. Why is it, again, that none of the laity in the
Church of Rome receive the cup in the Sacrament of the Lord’s supper?
Our Lord himself plainly commanded it. He even made the command more
expressive for the cup than for the bread, saying, “Drink ye _all_ of
this;” yet Rome says to all her laity, “Drink ye none of this.” What is
this but to exalt himself above the Saviour, and with a bold hand to set
aside the plain command of God himself? And look again at the doctrine
of transubstantiation. You will remember the passages quoted last Sunday
from the Councils. They taught that the priest could make {83} Christ
the Son of God, could shut him in a casket, could carry him in a
procession, could sacrifice him for sin. What is this but to exalt
himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped? But the
prophecy adds, “Sitteth in the temple of God shewing himself that he is
God.” This may refer to the assumption either of God’s attributes or
titles. The claim of infallibility, universal dominion, and the power of
absolute forgiveness is nothing less than a usurpation of the attributes
of God. But he has dared also to assume the titles, yea the very title
of God himself. When the Lateran Council was held at Rome, and Pope Leo
sat enthroned in the Lateran church, which claimed to be the mother
church of universal Christendom, when he thus sat in the temple of God
surrounded by its assembled representatives, the public orator,
Marcellus, had the daring boldness to give utterance to the words, “Thou
art our shepherd, our physician, in short, a second God in the world.”
{84} “Sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.”
Did ever portrait more completely represent the person?
We conclude then that the Church of Rome is the great apostacy, the
peculiar danger which makes the latter days so pre-eminently perilous.
But we have not yet done with the consideration of their danger, for we
are taught,
(3) That there will be a peculiar power of seduction immediately
preceding the advent of our Lord. All the prophecies to which we have
to-day alluded agree in showing that the great apostacy would be marked
throughout its course by a mysterious power of seducing souls. But there
are plain intimations in the word of God, that this power will be put
forth in the latter days with an energy both multiplied and quickened.
Nor is this a point of trivial importance; for you often hear it urged
that we are too enlightened in this nineteenth century to be again
ensnared by the superstitious principles of Rome. The rapid progress of
scientific knowledge is thought a sufficient antidote against the
seductions of those who would pervert the truth. Now such opinions will
not stand for a moment the test of Scripture; for the Holy Ghost declares
expressly that at the very time when science shall have reached its
height, and when human intelligence shall have gained the very climax of
its perfection, (I mean at the time just preceding the advent of our
Lord,) that at that very crisis there shall be an unparalleled spirit of
delusion in vigorous activity throughout the Church. Our Lord himself
has prepared us for such a fact. {85} “For there shall arise false
Christs and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders;
insomuch that if it were possible they shall deceive the very elect.”
And the Spirit of God has expressly revealed it in Rev. xvi. 13–15. “And
I saw three unclean spirits like frogs, come out of the mouth of the
dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the
false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles,
which go forth unto the kings of the earth, and the whole world, to
gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Behold I
come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments
lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.” I cannot now attempt a
comment on these remarkable words, but only just observe two things
respecting them.
(1) They allude to a period closely preceding the winding up of the
world’s history: there are seven vials, and these spirits appear under
the sixth; when the seventh is poured out, the words are uttered, “It is
done.” {86a}
(2) They represent this period as a time of peculiar delusion throughout
the world. The other vials all speak of war, suffering, and bloodshed:
under the sixth there is a hush, like the hush of peace; its leading
feature is delusion; delusion varied in all its forms, for there are
three spirits; devilish in its origin, for they are the spirits of
devils; prevailing in its influence, for it will throw its seductive
power over the rulers of the world, and so sway the minds of states, that
they will be, as it were, spell-bound, and lend their influence to the
direct support of the antagonist of God. “They go forth to the kings of
the earth, and of the whole world, and gather them to the battle of that
great day of God Almighty.” {86b} I am not now intending to occupy your
time by comparing this prophecy with history; my object is to bring home
to each of you the fact, the one simple and most startling fact, that a
spirit of strong delusion will peculiarly mark the latter days. The
church is not to sit still in calm security, as though her warfare were
accomplished, and her crown won at the Reformation. The great struggle
is to be at last, the unclean spirits are to come forth at last; the
sifting and searching days are to be at last. The nearer we approach to
the advent, the greater the need of watchfulness; the farther the world
advances, the more cautious heed should we pay to the warning voice of
our Saviour; “Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth and
keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.”
There is, therefore, abundant reason to believe that in the last days
perilous times shall occur, it behoves us then to look most carefully
into the second division of our subject.