This week we will begin a study of the “man of sin,” or the “antichrist,” which is prophesied to come and dominate the world for a time. The “man of sin” is the personification of the sin of man in its deepest depravity, and its greatest power of corruption. We are told about this in Scripture so we can be prepared for it, and which is why we are doing this study.

In Matthew 13:39 the Lord said that “...the harvest is the end of the age...” As we have said, the harvest that comes at the end of the age is the maturing and reaping of everything which has been sown in man, both the good and the evil. This is more apparent when we read the whole context of this statement in Matthew 13:36-43:

Here we see that there will be two “seeds” maturing at the end. Both are going to be gathered together. So, the separation of the wheat and the tares is also the gathering of the same into their own groups. One is so it can be burned, and the other to shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.

In the parable of the wheat and the tares, when the laborers discovered the tares growing with the wheat, they asked the landowner if they should gather the tares. He replied that this could jeopardize the wheat. He commanded them to “allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn” (verse 30). Until now the wheat has had many tares mixed in with it. These are the hypocrites, and those who continue to “practice sin” while claiming to serve Christ. These will be separated from the true “wheat” in the coming times, and the church will become as pure and holy as the Lord deserves from His own bride.

This is not to imply that those who sin are “tares,” as there is a difference between “practicing sin,” and stumbling occasionally as James affirmed that everyone does (see James 3:2). There is a difference between those who claim to be righteous, but actually love sin more, and those who seek to live a holy and righteous life, and love righteousness, though they occasionally fall to sin. This will become more clear in this study.

So two of the signs that we are coming to the end of the age will be the maturity of the wheat and the tares, and the separating of them from one another into their own groups. In this the tares are described as “stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness” (Matthew 13:41). These are gathered out of the kingdom by angels or messengers, and they are gathered into bundles so they can be burned. In the timetable of the last day events, we are just in the first stages of this gathering.

As this proceeds, there will be a great, and at times very difficult, separation coming in the church. To prepare for this I have tried to lay a foundation of the redemptive and restorative purposes of the Lord. It is not the Lord’s desire for a single soul to perish. As we are told in James 2:13, “...mercy triumphs over judgment.” The Lord would much rather show mercy than judgment, even to the worst sinner. However, there is a time when those who are truly given to sin and lawlessness will no longer be tolerated in His church.

Once when I was riding in a car with James Robison, he pointed out something to me in a wheat field that I have never forgotten. He asked me if I could tell the difference between the wheat and the tares, to which I responded that I had no idea how to do this. He said they look very much alike, and it is hard to tell them apart until the harvest, because when wheat matures it will bow over. However, the tares continue standing erect. In this we might say that the wheat becomes more humble as they mature, but tares become more arrogant. Pride is at the root of all human sin, and pride will be found as the fundamental character flaw of those whom the Lord calls tares and stumbling blocks.

As Jack Deere once pointed out, if you take the chronological order in which the apostle Paul wrote his epistles, in one of the first he claims to not be inferior to the greatest apostles (see II Corinthians 11:5). In a letter written about five years later he claims to be “the least of all apostles” (I Corinthians 15:9). In a letter written a few years after that one, he claims to be “the least of all saints” (Ephesians 3:8). In one of his last letters he claims to be “the greatest of sinners” (I Timothy 1:5). The pattern here is quite obvious—with increasing maturity there is increasing humility.

My purpose in these studies has been to not only examine the signs of the times, but to share that which I believe can help us prepare for them. Let us now ask the Lord to send His Holy Spirit to examine our hearts for any evil way that is within us, to convict us of our sin, and to lead us to the Truth, Himself, so that we can be set free. In our study of the “man of sin,” we will see the sin of man in its full maturity. As we look at this, we want to first see how this sin may have a part in our own lives, so we can humble ourselves seeking God’s grace, and be set free. Only after we are free will we be able to see these things more clearly in others to help them get free. We must get free from the sin and lawlessness that is the reason for the final judgments coming upon this age. Those who do will begin to stand out too as those who “shine forth as the sun (Son).” They will begin to look like Jesus.