This morning I'm directing your attention, of course, over to 2 Thessalonians 2. To me, these kind of times that we are in really require for us to go back to our Bibles. It is funny how we are when everything is going well, sometimes we let that slip, that Bible reading thing. But it is very important because it is the Word of God that gives us the vision that we need for the day in which we live. A lot of times people are wondering what's going on, and sadly, when it comes right down to it, in our heart of hearts, we're not really sure where to look in our Bibles. We ought to be teachers by now, Paul said to the Hebrews. He said, you ought to be teachers by now, not just going and getting milk all the time. So each of us should know our Bibles well enough to navigate, just like you know the lay of the land in Mansfield, Ontario, Shelby, all the areas. You know all the back roads, you know the nice places to eat. Remember when we used to go to a restaurant to eat? That was a good day. But you know all these things, you know, and it should be like that with our Bibles. And for many people, people are wondering, what's happening? And what's going on? And is this it? Is the Lord coming? And I just want to tell you, yeah, He is. Okay? He's coming. And it won't be long now, as I see it, because the Word of God makes it pretty clear that when we see certain things happening, we can look up. We can begin to anticipate that His soon return is upon us. so today I want to take you to this passage and I want you to know something about 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2 is it's a passage that deals with Christ and the Antichrist and that's really important for us to know because this is one of those definitive passages like Hebrews 11 which is the Hall of Faith it's a definitive passage and I want you to know too that But when you go through it, you begin to get what you might call is a little road map or a pattern of how things are going to unfold. The Bible says in verse 1, Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering together with Him, that you be not soon shaken in mind nor troubled neither by spirit nor by word nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Now this passage is very important in setting up what is really being addressed by the Thessalonians. They were going through a great deal of difficulty. The persecution was afoot, there was afflictions, there was trials, and it was becoming really dangerous to be a Christian in their day. They began to look at that, and then somebody began to circulate a letter in their midst, and they began to say, that what was happening was they were in the midst of the tribulation. That this was the tribulation, they were told. And then it was signed, the Apostle Paul. That's why he says in verse 2, that you be not soon shaken by letter as from us. It's interesting because this is what happens when people begin to let go of their Bibles. May I just say to you, And when you're reading your Bible, remember that the King James Bible should stay forever what I would call the plumb line of all other translations. Now listen, I don't want to be too intense about this, but we have lost our plumb line. That means that you're not comparing your reading of your Bible with other things. It's not wrong for you to have other translations. There's value there. But we need a plumb line. And if you want to go back and find out what's going on, go back to the King James and work from there. And I say that because here is an excellent example of why there's a real problem with translations. In the 1900s, early 1900s, a thing called textual criticism came around. And they began to really throw aspersions upon the King James Bible. And they began to say, you know, we didn't have a good translation. They found two pieces of manuscripts, and they weren't even complete, folks. The Bible says, let everything be established by two or three witnesses. Now, I don't want to go on to this too far, but just let me tell you this. This passage right here says that he beseeches them by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering unto him. That's two events, two different events. The first is the coming of the Lord when he returns to this earth riding upon a white horse and he wipes out the armies of the Antichrist and he takes over the world and he sets up his kingdom. That's the coming. And he says in our gathering together. Well, that's his his coming in the air. One is that He comes and every eye shall see Him. That's the return. And the other is His gathering us together where in a moment... And in a twinkling of an eye, we are caught up into the heavens. These are exciting times, folks. What's happening right now is everything's being pushed into a paradigm of evil. It is just that kind of a circumstance that this passage tells us we can anticipate when the Lord Jesus comes. Now when I say that there's a textual problem, many of the new translations say in verse 2, I don't want you to be shaken or troubled as that the day of the Lord is at hand. That's what the newer translations say, but this says the day of Christ. And the reason they're thinking it's the day of Christ is because the day of Christ is a day of jubilation. It's a day of celebration. It's a day when Jesus sets up his kingdom for a thousand years. It's the day of Christ. Some of you older guys have probably been known to say, and I've been saying it lately, you know, in our day, this happened. In our day, that happened. And when God's day, the day of the Lord happens, that's a day of judgment and day of vengeance. You go through your Bible, you look for day of the Lord. If you put the day of the Lord in there, this whole passage becomes really perplexing and becomes a parable. Now, may I tell you this. Paul did not speak in parables. He wasn't trying to do what Jesus did. He was writing to churches. He was letting the truth be known to churches and he was very concise. All the time, he's not speaking in parables. He's wanting us to know that these people thought they were in the tribulation and that it was only a little while and Jesus would return and come back and that somehow they were in the tribulation and they misunderstood. Now, he had spent time teaching them this stuff, and they should have known better. They're not in the tribulation. Can't happen. And he tells them why. The Bible says in verse 3 that the day of Christ, verse 2, is at hand. He says, that's not true. He says, let no man deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first. If you want to put in your margin right there, the word apostasy, you would be well served. The word apostasy is a Greek, it's kind of what they call a transliteration of a Greek word, which means they just put English letters to a Greek word, okay? It's apostasia. It comes from a compound word apo, which means away from, and stasia, which we get the word static. Static electricity means standing electricity. Okay apostasia or apostasy means that there is a standing away from the truth How powerful is that you see that anywhere in the world today? I mean, do you see the churches falling away from the truth? Do you see apostasy in the church? I mean, I'm just asking you. You have to answer the question. I mean, if you read things and if you listen to things and you see how things are going, I mean, we're getting into some pretty difficult times. The ordaining of certain people who are involved in clearly unbiblical behaviors, not only of that, but also the solemnizing of marriages that are not marriages at all. We're living in a day of apostasy. We've got people who are telling us that it is okay to do things the Bible says it is not okay to do. This is crazy down here when you think about it. But thank God for those who are out there standing for truth, standing on the Word of God, and preaching, and staying by the stuff. But do not be so, maybe, naive, if you will, as to think that there's not going to be this kind of a thing going on. You remember when Elijah felt like he was the only one. It's very easy to feel like that sometimes because it's hard to fellowship with everybody all at the same time. And when people are working, sometimes they're not aware of other people. But he was told, no, there was 6,000 that had not bowed the knee today also. He was encouraged. But nevertheless, it was a hard time. And there will be those who stand by the stuff. And whenever you go to church, wherever you go to church, whenever you worship, wherever you worship, make sure you're there where the Word of God is honored and put above and over everything that is done in that church. We need that to be a constant in our experience as we worship the Lord and as we follow Him. The Bible says the day of Christ can't come First of all, except there come an apostasy, a falling away from the standard. That's very important for us today to be aware of and not be scared of because actually we're in the midst of it and when he was writing this, they were not in the midst of it. Do you remember Acts where Paul told the Ephesian elders as he was heading back to Jerusalem knowing that he was going to go through some very difficult persecutions and he was even going to go to Caesar's throne. He knew nothing but bonds and chains that were waiting for it. And he was telling the elders of all those churches in Ephesus. He was saying, listen guys, he says, I told you that when I go, there's going to be ravenous wolves come up in your midst and they're not going to spare the flock. And he says, you need to just be strong in the Lord and continue to shepherd the flock that God's made you overseers of. Now, the point I'm trying to make is that when you see him telling them that, that was like, you know, when Elijah said, it's going to rain, go look and see. And they saw a cloud like the size of a man's hand. Okay. And finally, after he prayed for a while, and then it became a regular torrential rain downpour. Well, we're in the rain downpour now. Okay. They're way back 2,000 years ago. We're living in the apostasy. That's what we're doing. And so I just want you to get your mind around that contextually that these people were very early on. He says, wait a minute, guys. You're not close to the day of Christ because you haven't seen the apostasy first. The church was on the ascension, really, at that time. And now we're declining in many ways. The Bible says that there must come apostasy first. and that man of sin be revealed." So, this is another clue as to why this is not talking about the rapture that they're worried about coming, and the day of the Lord coming, because the man of sin is not revealed before the rapture. Okay, he's not revealed before the Lord comes and gets his church. That's just not how that works, okay? What happens is, is that the man of sin actually makes an agreement with Israel, and he says, we'll protect you. After the rapture, he makes that agreement, and for seven years, he's telling them he's going to protect them. But in the midst of the seven years, he breaks that covenant and he goes in and sits down in the Holy of Holies and declares that he's God and demands that everybody worships him. So when you read this, it makes perfect sense if you understand that they think they're in the tribulation. So he mentions, first of all, you got to have an apostasy, secondly, If you were anywhere near the time when the Lord Jesus was going to return to the earth physically and set up his kingdom, if we were at the day of Christ, if we were near that, the Antichrist would be clear to all who he is. He says, we're nowhere near it. And the Bible then expands upon this Antichrist. Now before I go further, I want to back up just a little bit and give you a couple of things you can put in your notes if you take them or if you review this later on, you know, the internet or whatever. In the book of Philippians, we see the day of Christ mentioned a number of times. And I think that's very important for us because it gives us a context for what the day of Christ is all about. In Philippians chapter 1, verse 6, 10, and chapter 2, verse 16, it's mentioned. Paul says this in Philippians 1, 6, being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. That means he's looking for a good day. Okay, a good day. What's the day of Jesus? It's when he comes with his bride. Everybody's applauding and oohing and aahing like they do at weddings. Man, look how wonderful the groom looks. Look how lovely the bride looks. It's the day of Christ. He's going to be king. in his throne in Jerusalem. And so we're looking at a good day in verse 10 of chapter 1 of Philippians. It says, he wants us to prove the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ. In other words, You don't want people during your lifetime talking about how you, you know, were a compromised Christian. He wants you to be a person who's proving that which is excellent. And not only that, but if you got raptured tomorrow and you were a compromised Christian, and yeah, Yeah? Compromised Christians, if they're truly born again or going home, they're going to go up in the rapture. Bible teaches us that some are going to be saved, yet so is by fire. So just realize, if you were a compromised Christian, listen, if you were a compromised Christian and the rapture happened tomorrow, what's really powerful is to consider how many people were looking at your life, they know you're gone now, and they're not. They're getting a clue. And now they're trying to parse the reality, and what happens? They go darker. Because they can't understand what a Christian is from the narrative, perhaps, that the Compromised Christian gave them. We want to be clear. Jesus Christ saves us unto righteousness. That's what He saves us unto. He saves us unto righteousness, and He saves us unto love. Even our enemies we're supposed to love. And that's not an easy pill to swallow, but we need to love everyone. That's what Jesus did. He loved the world. He gave himself for every man, every woman, every boy, every girl. And to as many as received him, he gives the right to become children of God, even to those that believe on his name. Philippians 2.16 says, holding forth the word of life, that I may rejoice, listen, in the day of Christ. If you want to know whether the day of Christ is a day of rejoicing, there you have it. That I may rejoice in the day of Christ. that I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain." It's going to be a good day getting home. Can you imagine the hugs? Can you imagine the reunions? And plus, some of the people that were not saved at the rapture, we come back in the day of Christ. And they got saved during the tribulation. And you're going to run. And they're going to run. And it's going to be awesome, because the hugs are going to be genuine. They're going to be uninhibited. And there's going to be everlasting joy upon everyone's brow who knows Jesus as their Savior at that point. It's going to be a good day. It's going to be a good day. Thank you. Yeah, that's a good day. I tell you, man, we're looking forward to some good days. So I just wanted to bring that home to you a little bit more because folks listen your Bible's under attack I want you to know the day of Christ is here being mentioned and people these people think they're going Very near that time. They think they're in the tribulation. He doesn't want them in verse 2 to be shaken He doesn't want them to be troubled and the word shaken actually has the idea of something that is It is a motion that's produced by winds The Bible says in Ephesians that you should be no more children tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine. So just realize something. I want to make a little connective here for you. What's the worst thing that could happen? The worst thing that could happen is somebody you and I love is not saved and doesn't get saved. That's the worst thing. Do you want to know what the worst thing is not? The worst thing is not that we would die. If we are God's children, that is not the worst thing that could happen. Don't be shaken by a quote-unquote unseen enemy. Be prudent, be wise. Listen, if you came into my house and you had the flu, I'd look at you and say, What are you doing? What are you doing here? You've got the flu. You know, you take precautions. You stand back a little bit when somebody shows up at work and they've got, you know, all the signs of greenness around the eyes and throat and coughing and sneezing. I mean, we're just talking in normal, everyday stuff. That's how we should be behaving now. Not this, I'm scared to death. You may not know it, but for some of you who are what I'd say is called computer savvy, I think it was yesterday, actually, because I couldn't go back and find it, but there was a global citizen initiative yesterday. It was a global citizen initiative. And it was like, it was all these artists who across the world were asking everybody to be one by staying home, unite by staying home. And it was global citizen, global, global. Okay. That's what they were saying. This song list had some songs that had to deal with hell in it. I mean, praising the fact of hell and enjoying the fact of hell and unleashing hell. I mean, we're talking about global citizens who are sitting around in their homes, fanning the flame of panic and unrest and really literally that which would destroy a nation if it became overcome by it. Don't be shaken. Don't be overwhelmed, shaken or troubled. Jesus is in charge. He is in charge of everything. The Bible says in verse 3, that day is not going to come except there be a falling away. What day? The day of Christ? We got to have an apostasy? Well, we got that. Check. And then we got to have the man of sin being revealed. Now, he's not been revealed yet. But can I just say to you? I mean, never been to time where they could have put one in there and he'd have been able to, you know, really access all the the things that have to be accessed to become king of the world. If you are paying attention in China, you see constant and continual, and this was before the pandemic, but constant surveillance on all their citizens. They put their pictures up on the side of buildings and streets for jaywalking. They lose points for not behaving in certain ways. They don't get certain privileges because they have cameras everywhere. So I say to you that this is a time where we have a lot of things. Everybody in the world, practically, and I may be slightly overstating it, but they have a cell phone and they know where you are. About two weeks ago, it was reported that some of these places were being asked by governors to verify for them whether people were actually social distancing. In other words, they wanted them to check out their phones to see whether people were actually not gathering in big groups, which means they just lit up the board somewhere and they were able to look and see if there was a cluster of people and it was by your phone, they knew where you were. They said, don't worry though, it's anonymized. Sure it is and maybe it is but it doesn't have to be the fact that they tell us that Tells us that we know that it might could not be okay, okay? So if they want to know where you are, they want to know where I am they can now what I'm saying is Antichrist The man of sin that is mentioned here the son of perdition And he has other names as well he is going to have control of the entire world and And the Bible says that that man of sin's got to be revealed, and I already mentioned to you that the prince that is to come is another word named for him. In Daniel chapter 9, we're told, the prince that shall come will confirm the covenant with many for one week, that's seven years, and in the middle of the week, he will break that covenant, and he will then desecrate the holy of holies. Now, interestingly enough, In 70 AD, the Holy of Holies was destroyed by Titus of Rome. This man of sin is going to desecrate it by sitting on the actual Ark of the Covenant that is going to be in place. Now, we do know that Israel's back in 1948. We do know that they have all of the accoutrements of the Temple. We do know that in 67 they won miraculously not at their own provocation, but their defense of themselves during the Six-Day War. They won back Jerusalem, the capital city. They didn't even mean to. They didn't even mean to, and they got Jerusalem. And now they have control over that, and we have an embassy there from the United States. A lot's happening. It's 70 years since that time. In 2018 was 70-year anniversary. And what I'm saying to you is, is that now they have everything except what? Well, they have everything except the temple. They don't have a temple. And there's no Holy of Holies right now. So three and a half years, the Bible says that the Antichrist is going to desecrate that temple. And then subsequently, he's going to cause sacrifice and offerings to cease. They're not sacrificing an offering right now. Well, let me tell you something. We just witnessed some pretty remarkable things in human history, right? With this pandemic, we have literally seen even China throwing up hospitals in days. How long would it take to actually build that temple? A covenant, a protection, They're back in their land. They weren't there from 70 AD to 1948, and we are now at the cusp. And if he makes a covenant with them for seven years, my belief is that they could build that temple under his watchful eye, give them a few years while he's doing other things like getting the rest of the world back off the ledge because they're all freaking out. Why? Because there was a rapture! Where'd all those people go? And there was an economic craziness. And so he gets a one world mark and nobody's got money anymore. Oh, it's going to be just over yonder, folks. It's going to be just over yonder. So I say to you, there are other names for him. He's called the Little Horn in Daniel. He's called that Wicked One here in chapter 2, verse 8. He's called the Beast. And he's called Antichrist in 1 John 2. Folks, we are living right on the cusp of this individual being revealed. I believe that at the very bottom of my being. The Bible says that he must be revealed. And it says, and that's an apocalypse is what it is. It's just like the word revelation and the revelation of Jesus. It's apocalypse. And that word has the idea of to steal klepto. And it has the idea as to hide crypto apocalypse. Those words are all built together. It's something that's mysterious and hidden, and it's something that is also stolen out of sight. But here's the thing. It's got an A at the beginning of word. In other words, it's not going to be out of sight. anymore. It's going to be a revealing, an unveiling. He was veiled, now he's unveiled. Well, the anti-Christ has got to be unveiled. And he gets unveiled, then Jesus Christ gets unveiled, okay, shortly thereafter. But the devil's been standing in anticipation of this time for a long time, and right now we see a lot of spiritual upheaval in our world, and it's all pointed toward doing evil and lawlessness. Look what it says in verse 4. This Antichrist, he opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God. or that is worshipped, so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, so there's got to be one, showing himself that he is God. Fascinating, right? Is that even possible? How could a man actually do that and who would actually believe him? Listen, Caesar said he was God, right? Hail Caesar, Lord Caesar. We see Going back a little further, you may recall that Pharaoh saw himself as a god. It's not unlike humans to think they're gods. There is a, what we might call an egocentricity about this generation. Everything is about them, the pay my bills off, pay my loans off, give me free health care. This is why our country is a little bit in danger right now, because there's a lot of young people who don't realize what they have to give up. which is your rights, if you give over to government the ability to take care of you and nurse you. And this is one of the blessings that's come from the pandemic. Many of them are seeing that right now. They're being told to stay home. For some of them, they're happy. They don't realize that while the world goes on, that the darkness grows darker and deeper. Look what it says. It says that this Antichrist opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped. He says he is God. Verse 5, Paul says, listen, remember ye not that when I was yet with you, I told you these things? There are people who will not even talk about the last days and the coming of Jesus because they say it's too hard to understand because they stumble over Revelation. Revelation's an awesome book. It's the only book in the Bible that actually has a blessing attached to the readers and the hearers. A blessing just from reading it. A blessing just from hearing it. Paul told them about these things while he was with them. Do you know how long Paul was with them? He was with them no longer than three weeks. And he felt like he had given them a master class course so that they should remember. Listen guys, we need to get up to speed in our Bibles. Although you think I think it's a time for that The Bible says that he told them verse 6 says and now now now, you know what withhold it now the word now is an interesting word because it doesn't just mean in the present moment, but also it means in the present time frame. He talks about the fact that he's going to be revealed in his time, and here he's telling them that in our time that you're in right now, you know what withholdeth. Why do they know it? They know it because he taught them what was going to restrain. Jesus taught what was going to restrain. The Bible says you are the salt of the earth. You're the restrainer. Your presence here right now is restraining people who are driving by. Some people who are driving by are thinking, hey, you know what? The truth is these people are meeting as a church. That reminds me when I was a kid, I went to church. Man, I haven't been to church in a long time. You're just here. And that's helping some people. Some people realize maybe just because of your presence at work, just because of your presence in the neighborhood, that there is a better way, another way, and a right way, and they're confronted with the truth in their own heart of hearts, that they're not on it if they're lost. They're not on it if they're not where they know that they should be. He says, and now you know what withholdeth, that he might be revealed in his time. You know what time we're in? You know what time we're in? The Bible says today is the day of salvation. Now is the acceptable time. It doesn't mean today as in a day. It means this day. This is the day of salvation. Jesus paid the price. Full, 100%, paid in full. Tetalostai, he said on the cross, it is paid in full. He paid the price for salvation. He sealed us with the Spirit. And He gave us a hope that we would never be separated from the love of Christ. He gave us the hope that He would not impute to us iniquity once we know Jesus. He gave us the hope that we would be adopted. And that we would one day, listen, not just be adopted, but one day we would get to be married because the Bible calls us the bride of Christ. And we as the church in full become the bride of Christ. And that being true, we have this day, now you know what withholdeth. In this day, the day of salvation, verse 6, it says, and now you know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. This Antichrist needs, he's got a special time that he's going to come into. He says, for the mystery of iniquity doth already work. only he that now letteth will let until he be taken out of the way." And that's talking about the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit is in us. Bible says what? Know ye not that your bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit whom you have within you and you are not your own? You've been bought with a price. Where's the Holy Spirit? He's in you. And so when the rapture happens, That's when this thing begins to really heat up. Rapture hasn't happened yet, but we're getting close. And I'm looking forward to the upper taker, not the undertaker. We're looking for some good times. Bible says in verse eight, then shall that wicked one be revealed. Actually, I I got it. I got to tell you this this is interesting verse 7 talks about then he will be taken out of the way The word way literally means out of the middle doesn't mean the road Means taken out of the middle. We're in the middle of the world right now everywhere everywhere Christians are everywhere ask somebody who hates God Christians are everywhere Anyway, but it means out of the middle. So he's going to take us out of the midst of this world. And the Bible says, And then the wicked one will be revealed. Look, I love this. Whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth and destroy with the brightness of his coming. Even him whose coming is after the working of Satan. with all power and signs and lying wonders." Now, if you want to circle the word wonders and put over in your margin the word terras, T-E-R-A-S, That word comes from a word you're more familiar with. It's tereo. It means to guard, okay? The Bible says those that keep the commandments, okay? Nobody does them perfectly, but we keep. The crosshairs of our hearts are on the law of God. The Bible says we establish the law, we keep the law, we keep the commandments. Doesn't mean we perfectly execute all of them in our heart of hearts, but it does mean we're constantly referring back to them. You see, the law is God's heart. That's why it was singled out as being written on tablets of stone. It was not part of the rest of the law in its truest sense. It was God's essence being put on display. It was put then, therefore, into the Ark of the Covenant with the manna and the rod that budded of Aaron. It was very important that we saw the heart of God. in those laws. We don't put aside the law, we establish the law. We tereo the law. We keep the law. We guard the law. Okay? The Bible says the law is good in 1 Timothy 1. If a man uses it lawfully, it is for the ungodly, for the effeminate, for the homosexual, for the fornicator, for the adulterer. It is for them. And that doesn't mean It is used to hit them over the head. It is for them. It is brought to the lost man, we understand this, to show them their lost condition. That's what it's for. It shows them and they're like, oh, I'm lost, until they come into contact with the law. They don't know that they're lost. You take a kid who's down in the streets of Chicago, who's in a street gang, the only conscience he has is, I gotta hurt that old lady over there to earn my spurs in my gang. They don't know anything. Bring them the law of God. You know, thou shalt not this, thou shalt do this. They're like, whoa, I never heard that before. And we bring them along and hopefully the light goes on and the scales fall off their eyes and they come to Jesus. My point is this, the word Terras means to look upon. It's the idea, if you will, of something people want to watch. You hear what I said? Want to watch. The Bible says that this Antichrist is going to come with lying, pseudos things to watch. Think about that for a minute. Lying things that you're going to be compelled to watch. Do you realize we are in a world that is full of lies? You say, well, preacher, you're getting a little bit close to the edge now. You might say something I might not like. Listen, I'm sorry, but I want you to know But the Bible says the people that will be outside of heaven in the end result, outside of heaven, are dogs, that is people with, you know, brutish hearts. It talks about people with no conscience. They're like brute beasts. That's how they live. The Bible says outside of heaven are dogs and sorcerers. Pharmakia, the Greek word. Sorcerers were pharmakia. Drug sellers. Drug purveyors. Can we say pharmacy? Pharmakia. Think about it. Dogs and sorcerers, and listen, here it is, whoever loves and makes a lie. Whoever loves a lie and makes a lie. These are the people who are going to be outside of heaven. You know, they tell you right now that this world is so fully overpopulated that it can't stand any more people. There are people who believe that the population needs to be diminished to a certain level and kept there. And they believe it with all their hearts. They put all their money and all their energies into diminishing the population. And that's because they have this idea that they've believed and they've propagated that the world is overpopulated. Right now, you could fit every person in the world in Jacksonville, Florida. They could fit them in there. They can't live there. I'm not saying that. But they could fit them there, shoulder to shoulder, okay? And they tell us that actually this is National Geographic. You can look it up. They could actually all be put in the state of Texas and live and only be as crowded as New York City. We're talking about a lie that's pervasive, and really the real problem with our world is not that we're overpopulated. The real problem with our world is that we have the mystery of iniquity or lawlessness that is abounding in our world, which means that when we send help and aid to people, that the strong man in a given area will take that stuff and not give it to the people. There's plenty of food, there's plenty of oil. Right now, I see a place up in Cleveland charging 99 cents a gallon for gasoline. I mean, you know, this world is all about manipulation and so forth. What's another lie? Another lie is we've been here billions of years. We've not been here billions of years. And they can't qualify that by any stretch of the imagination. What's my point? Lies! Lies! And there's all kinds of lies. And you don't want to put it past this world to be lying to us today. And people are glued to their TVs watching pseudo-terrorist lying wonders. Do you know what the lying wonder is today? Is that there's this little round ball floating around that you need to run to your house and be scared to death of. Listen, Jesus has got us. Jesus has got us. Is the worst thing that can happen that we die? No! We need to live! There was a great plague that was going on in England during the times of Charles Spurgeon. He was constantly being called to deathbeds. He got to worrying about that, thinking, man, I'm going out in the midst of this and this people, they're dying, I'm going to get it! He didn't get it. In fact, what he got was a word from God from Psalm 91. You won't be afraid of the pestilence or the terror by night, that it will not come nigh thee. You say, well, it might come nigh thee. Yeah, if you're not careful to some degree, but let us not walk in terror, shaken and troubled. We have to be a people who are wise enough to know, yes, there are germs. Let's be careful about them. But we've got enough information to know that there are some things that can be done now. They didn't know it the first couple of weeks. Fine. I get it. Let's all batten down for a couple of weeks. But let's not give up our country. The Bible says His coming is going to be with lying wonders. Pseudos terrorists things that you want to watch like false news all the time fake news fake news fake news Everything's fake news That's our world But it's going to be even more deep than that because the Antichrist is going to have a false prophet, we're told in the book of Revelation. But that's another thing. And I just want you to know there's going to be strong delusion. Look what it says in verse 10. He's going to come with all deceivableness. Now, the word deceivableness is usually translated deceitfulness. So again, lie, lie, lie, lie. That's what we're living in the midst of, lie. You know, you've got a girl on the internet here a little while ago who began to sing Imagine by John Lennon. And then it would cut to all these celebrities. And it's a, you know, that song, it's kind of iconic for this generation. Do they even listen to what they're saying? Imagine there's no hell beneath us. Above us only sky. Imagine there's no religion. No country. Imagine. Imagine. It's a lie. You can't have that. The only way you can have that is you have a king of the world. He tells everybody what to do, when to go to bed, when to get up, when you go out, when you come home, when you can die. Do you really trust the government to tell you when you can get a surgery? It's funny. This world in which we live is one to take away all of our, what? Our liberty. our liberty, our freedom. America was founded to champion freedom. The Antichrist will not like that concept at all, and therefore America becomes a target. And I believe that is part of what we're dealing with now. Verse 10 says, he's coming with deceitfulness of unrighteousness. Unrighteousness has the idea of unrightness. You know, there's a deceitfulness in the propagation of that which is unright, okay? Unrighteousness is the thumbing of our nose at the laws of nature, okay? There's certain behaviors right now that'll kill you. Moral behaviors that will kill people that we think are okay and we need to fix and, you know, be okay about. No, no, no. That's snubbing your nose at the laws of nature. You just don't do those things. And it thumbs its nose at nature's God. Okay? So we have this deceitfulness of unrighteousness. There's other things. The deceitfulness of sin, the deceitfulness of riches, the deceitfulness of lust. Here it's the deceitfulness of unrightness or unrighteousness. In them that perish. It says it's going to come with all. This is going to be lying wonders and it's going to be with all the deceivable of unrighteousness in them that perish. In other words, these people are all in on it because they receive not the love of the truth that they may be saved. I mean, that's all it is. If you circle the word received, received, because that's what it is. You want to be saved today. You need to receive Jesus. You need to stop dismissing. You need to stop postponing. If Jesus came back today and the rapture happened, are you going? I hope you are. Because if you're not, you can. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but by Him. That's how it works. And the Bible says, to as many as received Him. Received Him. To them, He gives the right to become children of God. Listen guys, this is what it's about. This is what the crux of the matter is. There are people in this world who have received Him, and there are people on the other side that have rejected Him. Those who reject Him give up all claim to eternal life. The Bible says that God, because they're going to engage in this deceitfulness of unrighteousness, the Bible says in verse 11 that God's going to amplify their delusion and He's going to send them strong delusion. That they should believe a lie. Look at this. That they all might be damned. Now you say, well, Paul wasn't very nice. Couldn't he have said that nicer? Sometimes you need a jolt. Gotta wake up, man! This is important! Where are you gonna go for eternity? He says that they all might be damned. And it says, "...who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." Now, the word pleasure is not the word hedonism or hedone, which is a Greek word for pleasure. This word literally means they think well of it and to highly esteem unrighteousness. People right now are laying down their lives for unrighteousness. Man, they're just pouring out on the battlefield. I remember a guy some months back, I can't remember who it was right now, but they said, you know, everybody's coming out of the closet. Maybe the Christians ought to come out of the closet. Say we're Christians. Let's just get out there and, you know, wear our badge proudly because everybody else is. We need to start letting them know that we have a high esteem for the right. The Bible says that they all may be damned who believe not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. But we are bound to thank God for you always, brethren, because God had from the beginning chosen you unto salvation through sanctification of the Spirit, and here it is, belief. Do you believe in Jesus? Do you believe He died and was buried and He rose again the third day? That's how you get saved. You trust Jesus, you believe Jesus, and when you believe Him and receive Him, that's when you become born again. The Bible tells us a couple of things here, and I'll wind down with this, because I want you to see something very interesting. He has told us that there's a context to this passage, and I told you it's the day of Christ they thought they were getting to. And I told you that they thought that they were in the midst of the tribulation, but he said that can't happen unless there's apostasy and the man of sin be revealed. That's like an overview of how this thing had to happen from their vantage point to ours. Well, what we really have to see is not the apostasy. We already saw that. Check! But we are now looking at things where we realize you can't have the man of sin revealed till We're out of here. And what he's telling these people right now is that they have a lot of encouragement. There's a context. He told them that. He says that there's actually contempt for the things that are righteous. That would be another heading we could put under here. And thirdly, there's a consequence. They're going to be damned because of their contempt. And then finally, there's consolation for you and me. I want you to see it in verse 16. He says, Now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God, even our Father, which hath loved us and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, may He comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work." Now listen, they tell me that if you talk about Antichrist, people will show up in droves sometimes, but if you talk about Christ, it's like pulling teeth to get people to go, I want you to know, Tell me the story of Jesus right on my heart everywhere Tell me the story most precious sweetest bit ever was heard now what you want to see in this verse right here Do you see what he did in verse 16 now our Lord Jesus Christ himself? himself and God even our father how many people are there one Two? How many? Well, I want you to know that Paul knows, even if we don't. Every verb, it says, which hath loved us, which hath given us everlasting consolation. When he says, comfort your hearts and establish you, All of those verbs are in the third person singular. What I'm saying is, it says, now may Jesus Christ himself and our Father. They're one, beloved. One God. Hear, O Israel, thy Lord our God is one. What I'm telling you is that there is a powerful, powerful answer to everything man of sin will be bringing. He's going to say, I am God. I want you to know Jesus is God. He says in this passage, Now, as I wind down, I want you to know that all these verbs have third-person singular. He's telling us who He is. Do you know what's interesting to me? I watch some of these updates that our president does, and after he gets all done and everybody's weighed in, they let the press begin to speak. And it's like a pack of dogs out there. I just don't know what's going on. These people, they just come against the president who's trying to fix something. It's like a pack of dogs. And I'm thinking, man, I'm just waiting for him to say, I am the president of the United States. Who do you think you are? Now, I don't want to pop your bubble, but that's what I think. But you know what's interesting? He never says it. He never does. You know why? Because he knows. He doesn't need to say that. He is the president. Everybody who watches is thinking the same thing. How can they do that? Even the people on the other side of the aisle who think they are right on target. They're thinking, man, they're getting away with that. Oh, man, they're getting away with it. They know they shouldn't be doing that. Here's my point. Antichrist claims to be God. But Jesus Christ is, in fact, God. And I want you to know that as we consider the truth, you want comfort? Jesus Christ Himself will comfort and establish you. And He will do it, listen to me, He will do it in times of upheaval and turmoil, because He loves us. These are the things he just said in his verbs. Comfort. He will comfort and establish us. And he does it in times of upheaval because he loves us and because he gives us great consolation in times like these. Listen, the idea of comfort and consolation is the Greek word parakaleo. It means that God comes right alongside. God comes right alongside. He puts his arm around you, comes alongside like a paramedic is somebody who's beside a doctor. Jesus comes alongside at times like this. Keep your eyes open and look for him. If you're a little nervous, that's okay. He understands that. But this upheaval is just like their upheaval in Thessalonica. They would be there, worried about maybe the martyrdoms. Maybe somebody they know was taken and thrown in prison. Maybe it's looking really, really bad because it was their loved one. You know, sometimes when it's us personally that are affected, we're a little bit more prone to buckle at the knees. And I get it, and God gets that. But it is at times like that that He shows up and He will establish you. He will strengthen you. You remember all those times in the Bible when the Lord showed up and the people faded away? Daniel, Ezekiel, John, they fell down as dead men and God lifted them up. Let Him lift you up. Dive into your Bible. Let your roots go deeper. Stand by the Word of God because the Bible says our delight is supposed to be in the law of the Lord and in His law we're to meditate day and night. God bless you guys. I want you to know something. These are strange days. These are exciting days. I want you to be looking for Jesus to return. We could find that God needs us to be down here a little while longer. Chapter 1 of this book, he said, you know, you're going through this terrible time because the lost people need to see a good example of a Christian. So we may have to go through some hard times. But Jesus has come, no doubt about it. He is coming. And I want you to be uncomforted. I want you to be strong. I want you to know there's an end of the story and that our Father is writing the story. And when your father writes the story, it always turns out well for you. Okay? Because that's your dad. All right, here ends our message. Well, I hope that was worth your time coming out here for today. I'll tell you, there's a lot to be excited about in the Lord Jesus Christ. You and I are on glory ground. At this time, I'm going to take a moment and have a word of prayer. And as I do that, I want you, if you're here today and you do not know for sure you're going to heaven, I want to invite you to come to the Lord Jesus right now, in your heart, in your car. I want you to talk to Him where you are. The Bible says, whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And now you know who He really is. He's God. We just established that in the passage. He is God. And when you call upon the name of the Lord, you're calling on the Lord Jesus, and when you call on the Lord Jesus, you're calling on God. And when you do that, you understand what He did. He died on the cross, He was buried, and He rose again the third day. What an amazing God that would come, condescend, take upon Him the form of a servant, become obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, and then rise from the dead, rise from the dead, to prove that He could be trusted. If you need to be saved today, you could just pray a prayer like this. You can just pray a prayer like this, and I'm going to lead you in it right now. Just right there in your car. Bow your heads. Everyone loves us. Let's just do that. And if somebody wants to pray right where they're at, you can pray like this. Dear God, I know I'm a sinner. I know I deserve judgment for my sin. But I now know Jesus died to take the judgment that I deserve. Please forgive my sin. Come into my heart and give me eternal life. that Jesus bought and paid for when he died on the cross. Lord Jesus, please save me now. Give me new life. Help me to live for you. Give me the peace that you afford your people. And I pray this in Jesus' name.