Well, I want to welcome you to this very special teaching on real life, and here's the reason why it is special. As we look to the Word of God in a moment, and as we begin to look at end-time events, the reason why it's so important is because you and I are living in an age where it's never been this late before in Bible prophecy. Listen, mankind has never been this far down on God's time of chronology. In other words, we're deeper into the pages of the Bible, more now than ever before. And so I want you to listen to the portion of scripture that we're gonna be studying, and what we have called After the Saints Go Marching In. Listen to that, After the Saints Go Marching In. It's gonna be a message regarding the world after the rapture of the church. What transpires, what comes after Jesus Christ receives his church, and goes back to heaven. Now, that may be a passage of scripture you're not familiar with, that you're not aware of. I understand that. But as you go through this study, I hope it becomes very clear to you that after the saints are delivered into heaven, what transpires in this world after that. For that, we would turn to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, and allow me please to read this, and by all means have your Bible open as well. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, beginning in verse 1, the Bible tells us, Now brethren concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to him, we ask you not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled either by spirit or by word or by letter as if from us as though the day of christ had come let no one deceive you by any means for that day will not come unless the falling away comes first and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Do you not remember that when I was with you I told you these things? And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. and then the lawless one would be revealed whom the lord will consume with the brightness of his coming the coming of the lawless one is according to the working of satan with all power signs and lying wonders and with all unrighteous deception among those who are perishing because they did not receive the love of the truth that they might be saved and for this reason god will send them strong delusion that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe in the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." A remarkable portion of scripture. Church, we're going to be looking at this now, so grab your Bibles, get a notepad, and begin to take notes and dive in with me as we look at a message titled, After the Saints Go Marching In. As we mentioned last time together, the number one priority and purpose of all of the doctrines of the Bible is to bring you and I to a full understanding of God's salvation that is purchased by His grace, that is God's gift has been given to us, and His act of redemption. which Jesus Christ not only died on the cross for the sins of the world. Yes, that's true. The Bible says Jesus paid the debt of all sin. But that doesn't mean that everybody goes to heaven. He paid the price, but only those who accept his gift of salvation go to heaven. And in that great display of love, there is damnation of those who reject. And it's not that he in his attitude or in his character damns them or condemns them. The Bible says that we as a human race is condemned already. But he gives the offer for us to come and receive the forgiveness of our sins and the hope and the assurance of eternal life. And yet every day all around the world, the gospel goes out and there are people who say, I don't need that. God, you get out of here with that. And there's a judgment here. And according to the context of our study, we're looking at the world that transpires after the saints go marching into heaven, when they're called up. The power of God's word and The Bible tells us in 1 John 5.13, an awesome passage of scripture, John, the author of John's gospel, the epistles, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John. John was the one given the revelation of Jesus Christ, the book of Revelation. In 1 John 5, 13, the Bible says these things, it's John speaking. Have I written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. Isn't that awesome? And that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God. Salvation is the key, Bible doctrine and the key to Bible prophecy doctrine, salvation. Salvation, your salvation is paramount. The issue of your life. The fact is Jesus Christ in his first coming was a matter of Bible prophecy being fulfilled. The same fact is true that Jesus Christ's second coming when he returns is a matter of Bible fact. I love that. And we can be reassured that God's going to fulfill his word. But the study of the Bible and Bible prophecy, you guys all know, right? Unless you're visiting today, that because there's been so many new people coming to church, This series is very intentional. I'm telling you that it's absolutely intentional, as I've been announcing, because so many people have come from so many churches that have never studied the prophetic doctrines of the Bible. And yet, over a quarter percent of your Bible is futuristic in its messaging. And that's remarkable. That's powerful. And you need to know that. And I have to be very honest with you. I expect people to write me letters and say things like, I'll be back after you're done with this series. I don't want to hear this kind of stuff. And that's dangerous, but that's exactly why I'm doing this. You need to know the full counsel of God, even if it results in this sanctuary being emptied out. You need to know the truth. And we're living in amazing days. I don't want you to miss out on anything. These are amazing times to know God's word. Jeremiah 29, 12 and 13 says, and then you will call upon me and go and pray to me and I will listen to you. Isn't that a great promise? Verse 12, verse 13 goes on, and you will seek me and find me when you have searched for me with all of your heart. What a great promise. It is incumbent upon God's people to seek Him and to call out to Him and to pray. That's who we are. Hebrews chapter 11 verse 6 answers that in the New Testament. Without faith, it is impossible to please Him, please God. For he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is, there's the word, a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. You wanna know what God's will is for your life? It's no mystery. It's found right there in Hebrews 11, six. Seek God with all of your heart, be diligent, and God will reward you for your pursuit. And so that's why we want to be devoted to the full counsel of God. By way of introduction, six things I want you to write down really quick. This is vitally important. Why do we need to study these things? Number one, because if you do, you will grow more resilient in this world regarding temptation. Watch this, listen to this, write it down. If you seek all of God's word, the Bible in totality, including prophetic or Bible teaching chapters and books, like the book of Revelation, like the book of Daniel, you know what you're gonna find out? You're gonna find out that you have a growing supernatural resilience against the temptations of this world. It's a supernatural reality. Just like putting food into your stomach causes you to have energy, or gas in the tank of your car, the same thing is true about understanding that God's word is true, you can bank on it, God will keep his word, and that will make you resilient. I use the word resilient, but you know I love the word galvanize. It will galvanize you against the temptations of this world. Number two, you will have an increased activity or action or strength to endure. All the issues of life. When you see what's going on. California, our government, our weather is fine. Now this, a little too cold for me personally. First service. I didn't know if we'd survive, but we made it. But just this last week, I don't know where you live, but the winds start blowing and you can set your watch to it. Some bozo starts a fire to destroy people and our property. And it stinks and it's smoky and it's terrible. And I found myself this last week looking out the window of my house to, yet again, billowing smoke and I concluded this. Lord, I'm so glad we're in this series. Because you're reminding me right now, this world is not my home. And you know, read the fine print of the Bible, by the way. It's so biblical to understand that. The Bible says that we're not gonna get flooded again when God judges the earth. It's all gonna burn. So you just remember that. Next time you see the hills on fire, call 911 and then be reminded, it's all gonna burn. Did you buy a new car? It's going to burn. A new dress? Did you buy a new house? It's all going to burn. Eventually. You know what? Knowing that he's coming back and that he keeps his word is gonna give you the ability to endure. Thirdly, you will notice that, and this is important, that the more you are fixated on Christ's return and that effect upon your life, you're gonna find yourself, thoughts and habits of sin growing less and less powerful in your life. They're gonna diminish and lose strength. We all need to hear that. That the more you focus on Christ's return, the habit of sin and the thought of sin, will be greatly, greatly diminished in your life. Somebody say amen to that. Amen. That's a great thing. That's called, by the way, holiness. That's God doing it in you. It's not you doing it yourself. And then another thing, number four, is that you will find yourself thinking and speaking and doing more from a heavenly perspective. You're gonna get excited about doing things that bless the heart of God. A people that are eating, consuming, and doing the word of God is a people experiencing revival. You need to know that. Number five, you will delight. You will delight in the desire to serve and love others. It's just gonna happen. Ministry opportunities. When the Bible gets in you, you know what comes out of you? Words like this. Hey, how can I serve? What can I do? Have you ever heard that? Have you ever heard that come out of your own life? You know why that's happening? Because the Bible's stirring you up. You've eaten it, and now it's gotten a hold of you, and it's been converted into spiritual energy, and you're not content anymore to sit around and be a pew potato. It's like, I gotta do something. Here's the cool thing about that. You don't have to do anything. But when God gets a hold of you, you get all excited, and you say, well, how am I gonna know? You're gonna be excited about it. You're gonna pull up to church here, and you're gonna say, we need to do something about the parking. Maybe God gave you the idea to fix it, because the Lord knows we need help. Maybe you've got the idea. You get excited about it, whatever it might be. That's God doing that in you. Why? Because you're fixated on his word, and his word is telling you that he's coming back. So let's get up, and let's get going. And then sixth, you'll develop a very high view of scripture. This Bible, this book will come alive to you. It's no longer a one hour Sunday gig, but it's a daily thing with God. You're gonna grow, you're gonna have this endurance, you're gonna notice that sin's diminishing, you're gonna find a heavenly perspective operational in your life, you're gonna be delighting and loving other people, and you're gonna develop a high view of scripture, which leads us to this now. After the saints go marching in to heaven, We now look at argument number one, a post-rapture world. There is left behind a world in free fall. Will you mark that down? When the rapture takes place, the world will go into what I'll just call a free fall. designed, by the way, by God, and let's be honest, designed by the principalities and powers of darkness. This is the hour of darkness when this happens. And number one, church, there is what's left behind in a post-rapture world, what we see in verse three. 2 Thessalonians 2, look at verse three. Let no one deceive you by any means. Ain't no way. Don't let anyone bamboozle you. into anything else other than Bible, that the day will not come unless or until the falling away comes first, and, here it is, the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition. Mark in your notes, we're talking about the Antichrist. There is no way according to Scripture that the Antichrist can be revealed to the world in power until the church is taken out of the way. And then he's gonna be revealed. There'll be this massive void created when the rapture takes place in the spiritual realm. I want to underscore that. I don't want to disappoint you, and I really want to be wrong about this. But when the rapture happens, I don't think there's going to be a hundred zillion, trillion, million people missing all over the planet, and people are freaking out. I don't believe that's going to happen. I think that's a smaller number than what books or articles would like you to believe. And I don't think it's going to be such a big noticeable thing. I just don't think so. When I look around the world, and I think scripture agrees, Jesus said, when I come back, will I find faith on the earth? And in the day and age in which you and I live in, there certainly is a falling away, people departing from faith. And when Christ comes back, though, there will be what's most important, a void, as it were, where spiritual light is removed in a degree, and darkness will fill that void. But there'll be a post-rapture world, and it will be in a freefall, and how so? Well, we know this, that the man of sin is gonna be revealed. The man of sin, the Bible calls him the Antichrist. He's also, by the way, Judas Iscariot was called the son of perdition in the Bible, and only one other person is called the son of perdition, and that is the Antichrist. The antichrist, the word antichrist, it doesn't mean he runs around, you know, with red underwear and a pitchfork. That's not who he, antichrist means instead of Christ or the replacement for Christ, an imposter. He's gonna be an imposter. This is Satan's plan according to the Bible. And he's gonna have a realm of deception. But in a post-rapture world in the darkness, This void will be filled. Matthew 24 verse 21, Jesus says, for then there will be great tribulation. Such has not been since the beginning of the world until this time. Wow. Translation, the Holocaust will look like a picnic. No, nor ever shall be. A time so gross, so dark, so terrible after the church is out of here. Deception will become the norm. I know that will never happen in our day and age where deception will be the norm. Are you kidding me? Deception, trickery, to deceive. When somebody lies to you, how is it that they lie to you? Well, they lie to you because they're liars. And they learn how to lie. It's not hard to learn how to lie, by the way. We naturally, our little kids, you never say, listen, listen, this is how you tell a lie, Susie. Listen to me. No, you gotta tell them to tell the truth. They're cute as a button, but the little creeps, they will lie right in front of you. They'd rob you if they could, and if they had the motor skills, they'd shoot you. You ever see how angry they get when you tell your two-year-old, you can't have that. They just come like this. Man, if they had a gun, it'd be over. It's in them already. It's inside of them. And listen, in a post-rapture world, there'll be a world in free fall, and evil will be rampant. Look around right now and listen to what's forthcoming, a world of violence. Second Thessalonians two, look at verse nine. The coming of the lawless one. Are we experiencing lawlessness? Yes, we are, and this hasn't even happened yet. This is just warm up. You say, pastor, I wanted my friend to come today to be encouraged. Listen, you wanna be encouraged, wanna be encouraged, listen carefully. Listen carefully, because you don't have to go through all this stuff. I told you, this is a post-rapture, teaching up now of what's gonna happen after the Christians are gone. Should Christ come back? And look, let's be honest. If he doesn't come back soon, it's not gonna be a surprise. If he doesn't come back soon, it's not gonna be a surprise. It's like, what else could happen? When's he gonna surprise us? We look around at the world, it's like, any day now. In fact, Lord, I think five minutes ago would have been really good. The world's gone nuts. But that's because you know his word and you can identify. So the coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan. Wow. With all. Church, remember this. All means all when you see the word all in the Bible. All power, signs and lying wonders. You and I have no power against that warning, but by the Holy Spirit dwelling in your life as a believer. First John tells us that it's the Holy Spirit in you that is protecting you against false teachings. Did you know that? You'll never be deceived if you know your Bible. But notice it's all of this, all power, all signs, all line wonders. The devil is coming to manifest in this world by this man called the son of perdition, or we call him the Antichrist. Remarkable. Verse 10, 2 Thessalonians 2, 10 says, and with all unrighteous deception among those who are perishing. This will put the hair on your neck up. Listen to this. This should terrify us. And with all unrighteous deception among those who are perishing. The Greek language means that they are already on the road to destruction, to hell. They're on the road, they're in the bus together. But don't get too judgmental. According to the Bible, we were all in that bus at one time. Some of us got out of the bus. Listen, mankind is careening over the cliff in sin. And Christ gives his extended arms and says, believe in me and I'll take you out. Come to me. He sends the gospel. It's a terrifying verse, though. Look what it goes on to say. They're perishing, but look, because they did not. Here's the reason why. It's because they did not receive the love of the truth that they might be saved. This is a terrifying verse, people. I'm gonna give it to you quickly, because it's not the point to our study today, but this should honestly cause you to stay awake tonight with care and concern. They knew the way. They knew the gospel. They heard it, but they decided, they concluded, oh, I don't want to be saved. A post-rapture world, wrapped in darkness. That verse goes on, 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 11 says, Isn't that amazing? Everybody wake up to this. terrifying. God will send, when the rapture takes place, there'll be those who knew the gospel but yet toyed and played with it. Maybe you're here today and you're toying and playing with it. You say things like this, yeah, yeah, I'll believe you guys after you're out of here. Then I'll wake up, then I'll know it's true. No, you won't. No, you will not. The Bible says God will send you strong delusion so that you will believe definite article, the lie, There is a lie coming from the halls of hell that will be spoken either by false prophets, false teachers, or by the Antichrist himself. And the world's going to believe it because it's the beginning of God's judgment upon a Christ-rejecting age. Think of it. Well, as you can imagine, there is going to be an unbelievable world that begins to transpire. It's a world that will begin to unfold after the church is raptured into heaven. And so that's going to be that moment, that's going to be that time that we've read so much about in the Bible that we all know is the time of tribulation. More specifically, we know that what we're studying in the advent of the Antichrist and the world in free fall, we're looking at a post-rapture world that the Bible talks about two segments, three and a half years, followed by another three and a half years, all of it seven and a half years of what is known as the tribulation period. It's going to be horrific. I pray that none of you that are watching this program participate in that. It would mean that you're rejecting the salvation that's in Christ, It would mean that you keep pushing off the offer that Jesus gives you to know him. In fact, Luke chapter 21, verse 36 says that all of these things are coming upon the earth, but to pray that you may escape all these things that are coming. And you can do that through Jesus Christ. You can do that because Jesus Christ right now has not yet come. He's coming. If you give your life to Christ and confess to him as your Lord and Savior, that He's removed your sin from you at the cross, and that you accept His salvation. You can have that wonderful hope, that imminent hope that Christ is coming. So look, you could be alive at His return, or you could die now. But the Bible tells us, all of us who trust Christ, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. And that's a wonderful thing. listen to find out more you can go to jackhibbs.com simple jackhibbs.com you can find out much more programming many many topics and studies in the books of the bible as well as features there's there's books and there's material there available for you to acquire for yourself and then look it is true uh with your support you can help us have a greater reach. If you believe God is using this and you can partner with us to get out the word of God right here at jackgibbs.com, I encourage you that everything will be used to do exactly that. Let's reach the word for Christ, and by all means, let's finish the great commission that the Lord has given us to do, and you can help us do that right here at jackgibbs.com. So listen, next time, and until next time, Stay in the Bible, pray, press into Christ. These are the last days, and I look forward to seeing you again right here. Are the struggles of life causing you to doubt who you are? Where your journey in life is headed? Jesus Christ provides comfort and peace in the midst of your doubt. You only need to believe. It's our desire that through Jesus Christ you will know real life. 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