Thirty-five years ago, when you
men first spoke to me about the possibility of me coming here
as your pastor, you may recall I said to you, if there's anyone here in this
town preaching the gospel of God's grace, if there's any place
in this town where you can go and worship God and hear the
gospel, don't call me as your pastor. Disband this assembly
and go join up with those folks. I wanted at the outset of our
labors together for you to understand the stark contrast between light
and darkness, truth and error, life and death, religion and
life with God. I said to you then, and I've
repeated to you many times, if you call me as your pastor, you
are saying to me, Brother Don, there is nobody else speaking
for God in this town. There is no other place where
we can go and worship God and worship God in spirit and in
truth. I have been convinced many, many
years that we're living in a time of horrible apostasy. I want this morning to preach
to you on the great apostasy described in 2 Thessalonians
chapter 2. The great apostasy. I've prepared and preached a
similar message to this Tuesday, or Monday night in Ballymunny,
North Ireland And I was convinced as I was preparing that message
that this would be my subject this morning and similar message
again tonight. The great apostasy. Now, let
me state things with clarity. We are living in a generation
under the judgment of God. That should be obvious to anyone
who reads this book. Anyone who reads this book and
has understanding given of God. The spirit of Antichrist in this
day is so thick you can cut it with a knife. I mean by Antichrist
that religion of Antichrist will worship religion. Read the first
chapter of the book of Romans. And you will find that marks
of divine judgment are manifestly upon this generation. Never before
has there been such spiritual blindness. Just utter blindness. When people
talk about something spiritual, when you read about something
where people talk about something spiritual on television, in the
newspaper, on radio, over the internet, talking to your sons
and daughters, mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, your neighbors,
You think, where do they get this stuff? Where do people get
such ideas? Just utter spiritual blindness,
as the apostle told us would come to pass in this day. Moral
perversity, moral perversity, oh, how rapid, how rapid. Degenerate society. just an utterly
degenerate society. And Romans chapter 1, as we read
earlier, lays the blame at the doorstep of all freewill works
religion. Idolatry always leads to licentiousness. Idolatry always leads to moral
perversity, the moral decadence of this day. Folks, you folks,
most of you follow the news. I follow it more than I want
to. I just listened to somebody when I got home talking about
how things have changed and how society has changed. We're living
in a more enlightened age and people are becoming more acceptable
to sodomy and the perversities of this age. Not God. And I'll go a step further, not
God's people. No, these things are not acceptable.
They're not acceptable. In our society, Brother Bruce
Crabtree said a few months ago, he said, if you kick a dog, they'll
send you to jail. And the same folks send you to
jail for kicking a dog will pay you good money to murder a baby
in your womb. Moral perversity. There's something wrong with
that thinking. And the thing that's wrong with it is called
judgment, God's judgment upon men. We live in an age of utterly
self-serving chaos. The chaos of society is at its
root the fact that men live to themselves and for themselves. They live for their pleasure.
They think the world was made to revolve around me. What stupidity
and what utter chaos this leads to. These things are the results
of what God the Holy Ghost calls will worship. God calls it that, will worship.
What is that, Brother Don? Putting man in the place of God. Free will works religion. That
religion that debases the character of God and exalts the dignity
of man. Those things that we see all
around us are the results of God's judgment upon a generation
of will worshipers. If we could outlaw abortion,
and I'd be in favor of that. If we could shut down the peddlers
of pornography and smut, and I'd be in favor of that. If we
could banish all drugs from our culture, and I would be in favor
of that. If we could eradicate sodomites
from the world, and I'd be in favor of that. But if we could
do all of those things, it wouldn't move this generation one step
closer to God. It wouldn't make men and women
one bit closer to God. The problem lies far deeper than
these outward things. These are just the branches.
The root of the problem is in the heart of man. And nothing
can deliver us from the judgment of God but the grace of God. Nothing will deliver anyone from
this generation under the judgment of God into the kingdom of God,
but the grace of God, electing grace, regenerating grace, redeeming
grace, saving grace. And yet the scriptures give us
clear admonitions as to how we are to look upon these things
and how we are to behave in the light of these things. Now let's
read 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 together, verse by verse. I'll look at it and make comments
as we go along. Obviously someone had written
to this congregation or visited it and told them that the Apostle
Paul was teaching that the Lord Jesus is coming real soon. The
Lord Jesus is coming right away. And there are many who do similar
things. dates and tell you this is certain
signs that this is surely the end time. Our Lord tells us plainly,
it is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the
Father hath put in His own power. No one knows when Christ is coming,
including the man talking to you. No one has any idea when
Christ is coming again. Our God has fixed it so that
no one can know that, and no one can predict that, and no
one should. Having said that, we're given
plain instruction in Scripture that this is the last time. This
is the last tick of the clock. This is the last time in which
God deals with men in this gospel age after this judgment. And
we are to look for the coming of our Lord immediately. We are
to anticipate His coming all the time, serving Him faithfully. All right, let's look at verses
1 and 2. Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ. This is the first thing I want
you to see. Christ is coming. I don't mean He's going to come.
I mean Christ is coming. We beseech you by the coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering together unto
Him. that you be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled neither
by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter, as from us, as that the
day of Christ is at hand." Now what's the Apostle telling us
here? First, the Lord Jesus is coming again. Behold, he cometh. Behold, he cometh. That's the
language of Scripture. It's given in the present tense
in Revelation chapter 1, verse 7. Behold, he cometh. Right now, the Savior is coming
for us. With every turn of the page of
the book of God, in the hand of the angel who stands with
one foot on the earth and one on the sea, our Lord Jesus. With
every event, with every day, our Lord Jesus is coming to us
all. He's coming for our gathering
together unto Him, for the resurrection of the dead. But there are no
signs, No prophecies yet to be fulfilled before He comes, and
we're never to look for such. I wonder if we'll ever get ourselves
corrected. I wonder if we'll ever get ourselves corrected.
We look for signs. Boy, that's a sign of the Lord's
coming. This is a sign of the end times. This is a sign. Our Lord
tells us plainly not to look for signs. Don't do it. Don't
do it. As things have been in the past,
so they are now, with increasing darkness, and increasing evil,
and increasing stupidity, and increasing blindness, and increasing
immorality, and increasing degeneracy. But men were married, and were
given in marriage, and they eat, drink, and they are merry. That's
how folks have always lived, who live since the fall of our
father Adam. And that's the way it will be
when our Lord comes again. So there are no signs to be looked
for at His coming. Or looked for that would predict
or indicate His coming. Rather, we should live every
day looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal
life. Anticipating the glorious advent
of our Savior. I try. I try. I don't always
succeed, but I try with deliberate effort. As I wake every morning
to think to myself, maybe this is the day. Maybe this is the day. Let me
do everything I can this day for the service of my Redeemer
and let me be found serving Him when He appears. And I try every
night as I close my eyes and go to sleep, to think to myself,
maybe before I wake tomorrow, this is the night when the Lord
will come. Let us live constantly in the
anticipation of our Savior's glorious appearing. God has fixed
it, and I'm convinced God has fixed it, so that every generation
since the days of the apostles has been convinced this is the
day when the Lord's coming again. He's going to come in our day.
You read the writings of faithful men, they all seem to be convinced
that the Lord's going to come real soon, and the Lord's fixed
it that way. So that we may ever constantly
anticipate His return, for He may return at any time. There's
not one thing, not one thing, not one prophecy, not one letter
of inspiration, not one word, not one sign that must be yet
fulfilled before Christ comes again. So we're to live every
day anticipating His coming, but serving Him with all our
hearts every day He gives us to live on this earth as though
He may not come again for another thousand years. All right, look
at verse 3. Let no man deceive you by any
means, For that day shall not come, except there come a falling
away, the word is apostasy, a falling away first, and that man of sin
be revealed the son of perdition. This is the second thing. Before
Christ's second advent, there will be a wholesale universal
apostasy and departure from the faith. Paul is not talking here
about liberals and open heretics and vile ungodliness. He talks
about those things other places. Here he's talking about a departure
of men and women from the faith who claim to be in the faith.
A departure of men and women from the worship of God who claim
to be worshiping God. A departure, men and women, from
the Lord Jesus Christ, who pretend to be followers of Christ. Just
like those who, in John chapter 6, heard our Savior's doctrine,
and they were offended at His Word, and they turned and walked
no more with Him. A departure from the Son of God. And this departure from the faith
will be so subtle, so deceiving, so damning, a departure from
the faith, throughout the world, that if it were possible, Our
Savior said the very elect of God would be deceived. Thank
God it's not possible, but it is such a subtle, such a deceitful,
such a deluding thing that were it possible, it would deceive
the very elect of God. Here in verse 3, the Holy Spirit
tells us that heresies must come. Heresies must come. This is precisely according to
the purpose of God Almighty. That's exactly right. This is
by divine arrangement. There must be heresies among
you that they which are approved may be made manifest. Turn back
to 1 Timothy. Turn over to 1 Timothy. I'm sorry,
1 Timothy, chapter 4. Just a couple of pages over. By this delusion, by this apostasy,
by these heresies that engulf the religious world around us,
God's elect may manifest because a stranger, Christ's sheep, will
not follow. The sheep hear His voice. They're
not going to chase every religious fool that pops up on the scene.
They hear the Savior's voice. Now look here at the description
of this apostasy, 1 Timothy 4. Now the Spirit speaketh expressly
that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith,
giving heed to seducing spirits. We read about her in Proverbs
7. And doctrines of devils. Any doctrine contrary to the
doctrine of Christ is a devil doctrine. Any doctrine contrary
to the grace of God is a doctrine of devils. Any doctrine contrary
to the message of God's free saving grace in Christ is devil
doctrine. Having their conscience, speaking
lies in hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot
iron. They stand up in the name of
God and speak lies in hypocrisy and never bat an eye because
their consciences are seared. Forbidding to marry, Commanding
to abstain from meats which God hath created to be received with
thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. Turn over
to another page to 2 Timothy chapter 2 or chapter 3. This know also that in the last
days perilous times shall come. What a strong word. Perilous
times. Perilous times. 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, incontinence, fierce, despisers
of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of
pleasure more than lovers of God. Now, lest you think he's
talking about the porno shops and the abortion clinics and
all that stuff, he's talking about the church houses. He's
talking about religious folks. Look at the next line. Having
a form of godliness. Go to church on Sunday morning
and go through the ceremonies and the rituals and read the
Bible and sing their hymns and say their prayers and go on their
way to hell. Having a form of godliness, but
denying the power thereof. What is the power of godliness?
We read it in Romans chapter 1. The gospel is the power of
God to salvation. They have a form of godliness,
but you don't dare preach the gospel where they are. You don't
dare, not unless you expect to have a riot on your hands. You
don't dare go and tell the truth about God in the church houses.
Folks won't bear that. They won't take that. They won't
stand for that. Years ago, first time I went down to preach for
Brother Gary Perkins, down in the mountains of North Carolina,
Tennessee, rather, there was a fellow there, a preacher, and
he listened to me preach, and he said, he said, I'd give anything
if I could preach that in my church. I said, do what? He said,
I'd give anything if I could preach that in my church. I said,
what stops you? Well, they just wouldn't stand
for it. They wouldn't stand for it. And I unbuttoned my pocket
and reached in my hip pocket and pulled out my wallet. And
I said, that's the only thing that stops you. That's the only
thing that stops you. You prefer their money to their
souls. You prefer their money to the
glory of God. But they have a form of godliness,
but they won't tolerate the gospel of God. From such turn away,
verse 6, for of this sort are they which creep into houses
and lead captive silly women, laden with sins, led away with
divers' lust, ever learning, ever learning. Let's have Bible
study this week. And never able to come to the knowledge of the
truth. Now as Janes in Jambres withstood Moses, So do these
also resist the truth. Men of corrupt minds reprobate
concerning the faith, but they shall proceed no further. All they can do is stand and
holler. All they can do is resist. They can't prevent, for their
folly shall be manifest unto all men as theirs also was. Now look at one more text in
this regard, 1 John chapter 4. First John chapter four. Beloved, believe not every spirit,
but try the spirits. Let's talk about preachers. Whether
they are of God. I urge you, I urge you, as you
care for your soul, Mark Henson, test everything I say by this
book. By this book. If it's according
to the book, believe it and hear me. If it is not, don't believe
it and don't hear me. Try the spirits, whether they
are of God. Because many false prophets are
going out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of
God. Every spirit that confesseth
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. For me to say the same things
to you is safe. I will repeat over and over again what I said
concerning this. Who confesses that Christ has come in the flesh?
I stand in this pulpit and declare to you. Last week you heard Brother
Todd Nyberg, Brother Gabe Stoniker. We stand in this pulpit and declare
to you. You heard Brother Lindsay this
morning. We stand in this pulpit and declare to you that that
man, Jesus of Nazareth, who lived on this earth 2,000 years ago
and was crucified at Calvary at the hands of Jews and Romans
and rose again the third day, that man accomplished everything,
everything the prophets of God said Messiah would accomplish.
He put an end to sin. He brought in everlasting righteousness. He magnified the law and made
it honorable. He saved his people from their
sins. I don't mean he made it possible for those things to
be done. I mean he did it. And every man that confesseth
not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. Every preacher
standing in any pulpit anywhere in the world who denies the efficacy
of God's grace, the efficacy of Christ's righteousness, the
efficacy of Christ's atonement, the efficacy of God's Holy Spirit
in the effectual call of sinners, any preacher who denies that
Jesus of Nazareth actually put away sin, actually honored God's
law, actually magnified the law, actually brought in everlasting
righteousness, actually saved his people from their sins, He's
not of God. Who is he? Who is he? This is
that spirit of Antichrist. What? Antichrist. Antichrist. Where have we heard
that it should come and even now already is it in the world? Antichrist. Stands in the pulpit
of Baptist churches everywhere. Antichrist. Denying the accomplishments
of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Who is this Antichrist? The man
of sin who must be revealed according to verse 3 in our text. Forget
about what you see coming out of Hollywood and things that
you have in your mind about Antichrist. You have the idea of a red devil
with horns and a long tail and a pitchfork and a 666 emblazoned
across his forehead. Forget about that. Antichrist
is so smooth and so slick that unless God enables you to recognize
him, you won't. But he is revealed to God's elect.
Look at verse 4, 2 Thessalonians 2. Who opposeth and exalteth
himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped. so that he, as God, sitteth in
the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Now I have no
problem at all in saying what our forefathers said, and did
so in great faithfulness, that the Pope, the dog of Rome, is
Antichrist. I don't care which one you name.
He's Antichrist. No question about that. The Church
of Rome is Antichrist. Roman Catholicism is Antichrist. Oh, Brother Don, you can't say
that. Will you hang on? You'll hear it again. The Pope
is Antichrist. Church of Rome is Antichrist.
I don't mean it used to be. I mean his unholiness, the Pope,
is Antichrist. I mean that Roman Catholicism
is Antichrist. It can't be stated too emphatically
or too often. But it is a serious mistake.
It is a serious mistake to limit Antichrist to one man or one
religious sect. Antichrist was already at work
in the Apostle's age. John told us many Antichrists
had gone out into the world. The Apostle Paul had to deal
with Antichrist at Galatia, Colossae, Corinth, Ephesus, and at Jerusalem. Paul describes him as the man
of sin the son of perdition. One who opposes God. One who
opposes God. Opposes the revelation of God
in His Word. Opposes the work of God in grace
and in providence. Who opposes God being God. Who opposes God being God. An Antichrist exalts himself
above God. He sets himself up in the temple
of God and is worshipped as God. showing that he is God. Antichrist
is any and every system of free will works religion. Any and
every man. Any and every preacher. Doesn't
matter whether it's your brother or daddy or my brother or daddy.
Any denomination. Any church. that make salvation
dependent upon, are determined by the will of man, the works
of man, and the worth of man, that's Antichrist. Doesn't matter
whether it's Rome, or Baptist, or Pentecostal, or Presbyterian,
or Islamic, or Jewish, any who makes salvation to be determined
by you, dependent upon you, is Antichrist. Any church, any doctrine,
any religious system, that makes man the centerpiece is Antichrist. Ah, that's it. That's it. The
centerpiece. You ladies decorate your houses
and you get somebody to come in, an interior designer, and
they will fix a centerpiece. The thing that draws your attention
when you walk into the room. That's the focal point. When
I was in school and working in public jobs, I learned to make
what we call display windows at the shoe store. And you always
have a centerpiece and you arrange things to move people in a certain
direction and that direction is always right in the front
door so you can sell them some shoes and handbags and such as
that. It's the centerpiece. What's the centerpiece of this
church? Tell me what the centerpiece
is, I'll tell you who we worship. What is it? What's the centerpiece
of that one? Or that one? Or that one? Or
that one? Find the centerpiece, and I'll
tell you who's worshiped. Well, Brother Don, the centerpiece
in churches all around us is man. He is, isn't he? Everything's
focused on man. Everything's done to please man.
Everything's done to honor man. And man is set up and given power
that belongs to God alone, the power of salvation. The centerpiece
in the Church of God is Jesus Christ crucified. Let me be understood,
clearly understood. All who teach that God's will
can be altered or halted or hindered in any way by man's will. According to Colossians 2, we're
will worshipers. If you have power over God's
will, then you're God and not God. The religion of Antichrist makes
the omnipotent God subject to impotent man. Makes God impotent
and man omnipotent. God wants to, but... What absurdity! God wants to save you, but you
won't let him. God's done all he can, now the rest is up to
you. Man has got God in a hammerlock, both arms up behind his back,
and God can't do anything unless man turns loose the power of
God. That's Antichrist. All those
who teach that the merit and efficacy of Christ's atonement
resides in man's will, man's decision, man's faith, antichrist
they trample underfoot the blood of the Son of God and despise
the Spirit of grace Hebrews 10 29 they tell us that Christ died
for everybody but some folks for whom he died won't be saved
because they won't let him save him and though he shed his blood
for them his blood was shed in vain for many because they didn't
choose the Lord. Blasphemy. Horrid blasphemy. Those who teach that the gracious
operations of God the Holy Ghost may be successfully resisted
by man are anti-Christ. They make God's will and God's
work subservient to man's will. All who teach such things are
described here by the Apostle Paul as setting up man in the
house of God, declaring that he is God. and demanding that
he be worshipped as God. Now look at verses 5, 6, and
7. Remember ye not that when I was yet with you I told you
these things? And now ye know what withholdeth,
that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of
iniquity doth already work, only he who now letteth, he who now
restrains, will restrain, he will let until he be taken out
of the way. Paul tells us that the Holy Spirit now restrains,
withholds the power, the influence of Antichrist. But the time will
come, he tells us, when the Lord God will let hell loose to deceive
the nations of the world again. This is the next thing I want
you to see. God has appointed a time at the
end of this gospel age, a little season. when Satan must be loosed,
God's going to turn hell loose on this world. How else do you understand what's
going on around you except that God has turned hell loose on
this world? Let's see scripture, Revelation
20. I saw an angel come down from
heaven, our Lord Jesus, having the key of the bottomless pit
and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon,
that old serpent, which is the devil, and Satan and bound him
a thousand years. Specific number put for an indefinite
number. And cast him into the bottomless
pit and shut him up and set a seal upon him that he should deceive
the nations no more. to the thousand years should
be fulfilled. And after that, at the end of
this gospel age, after that, he must be loosed for a little
season. He'll go out and deceive the nations again. And I saw
thrones and they that sat upon them, and judgment was given
to them. And I saw the souls of them that
were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the word of
God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image,
neither had received his mark upon their foreheads or in their
hands. And they lived and reigned with
Christ a thousand years. That's what he's talking about
right now in this gospel age. God's made you a holy nation,
a royal priesthood. He's made us kings and priests
unto God, living and reigning with Christ. But the rest of
the dead live not again until the thousand years were finished.
This is the first resurrection, the new birth. Blessed and holy
is he that hath part in the first resurrection. On such hell hath
no power. The second death hath no power.
But they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall
reign with him a thousand years. And when the thousand years are
expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison. And this is according to God's
purpose. 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 8. Don't allow a single syllable
to pass before your eyes without prayerful thought and consideration. And then shall that wicked be
revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his
mouth, and shall 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, and with all deceivableness of
unrighteousness in them that perish, because they received
not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. I can't tell you how many books
I have seen in my life as a believer, some of which I at least read
a portion, if not all of them, of men identifying Antichrist. I recall years ago, a fellow
stopped by our house late one night, spent the evening with
us, actually spent a couple of days with us, trying to convince
us that he knew who Antichrist was, it was dead sure certain
Henry Kissinger was the man, and he had the facts to prove
it. That was the man. And somebody else wrote a book
that said Billy Graham was anti-Christ. And another one said, this fellow's
anti-Christ. That Sung Young Moon was anti-Christ. No, no,
no. Anti-Christ will never be known
by this world. He'll never be known by this
world. The world will presume this is God's spokesman. This
man speaks for God. This man speaks for God. Anti-Christ
will be revealed revealed to God's people. Now here are five
things revealed in these verses 8, 9, and 10. Antichrist is revealed,
consumed, and destroyed exactly according to the purpose of God.
That's the first thing. This is all about God's purpose.
Second, signs, wonders, and miracles are as certainly marks of Antichrist
in these last days as they were of Christ and his apostles in
our Savior's day. We live in this charismatic age
of religious tomfoolery. Folks think that you see all
this stuff. Folks pretend to speak in tongues
and they pretend to have miracles and see visions and have a word
of knowledge and they pretend all this stuff. They come with
signs and wonders from heaven. This is Antichrist. This is Antichrist. Somebody asked me just recently,
how can you say that these people are all lost and this is not
of God? And my response is, what do they
preach? What do they preach? Find me
one. Find me one of these who pretends
to be an apostle, who pretends to have apostolic gifts, who
preaches the gospel of God's free grace. Find me one who does
it. I know there's some who say they do, but you find me one
who actually preaches free grace. Not to be failed. The emphasis
is always on me and my experience and the Holy Ghost and His gifts
to me. Number three, the deception of Antichrist is tremendous,
as I said earlier. so deceitful that even the elect
would be deceived if God didn't prevent it. Four, the religion
of Antichrist. Self-righteousness is called
unrighteousness. Unrighteousness. The unrighteousness
of men. That's how God describes the
religion of the world. Unrighteousness. Unrighteousness. Men going about to establish
their own righteousness only commit unrighteousness. And fifth,
the reason for the delusion of men is their own willful rejection
of divine truth. They're deceived by God because
they receive not the love of the truth that they might be
saved. Saving faith not only embraces
the truth, it loves the truth. And Christ is the truth. All
right, look at verses 11 and 12. And for this cause, God shall
send them a strong delusion that they should believe a lie. The
God of this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe
not. God sends them a strong delusion
and they believe a lie. And God sent the strong delusion
to damn them that they all might be damned who believe not the
truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. They shall eat the fruit of their
own way and be filled with their own devices. Now, look at verses 13 and 14
and understand this. The only reason, the only reason
any sinner in this dark, dark age walks in the light The only
reason you and I who walk with God by faith in His Son are not
deceived by the religion of this world, as most of us once were,
is God's free, sovereign, distinguishing, electing grace. But we're bound
to give thanks all the way to God for you, brethren beloved
of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you
to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the
truth, whereunto he called you by our gospel to the obtaining
of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. My wife is real good about reminding
me of things I need to be reminded of. You get around family and
friends, as we were recently visiting family, and they talk
about religion. And you first get upset with
them and then you almost laugh at the foolishness and you can't hardly prevent yourself
from swelling with pride because you know what they don't know.
And she reminds me often. That's where we'd be if God hadn't
stopped us. That's where you were, Mark, when he called you
and your wife, Donna. Why? Why do I see and they're
blind? Why do I hear and they're deaf? Why can I speak praise to God
and they're dumb? Because God had from the beginning
chosen Oh, thank God. Thank God for
his free electing love and favor. Now, what is your response to
this? What's my response? What can
I do in this dark age? What can you do? Therefore, brethren,
stand fast. Hold the traditions which you've
been taught, whether by word or our epistle. Hold fast that
form of sound words, Paul said. Stand fast in the gospel. Tenaciously
adhere to the gospel of God's free, sovereign grace in Jesus
Christ. Tenaciously adhere to it. Stand
fast. Everywhere I go, I make it a
point to preach God's sovereignty, man's depravity, Christ's effectual
atonement, limited atonement, the Holy Spirit's irresistible
grace, the sure preservation of God's elect. Why? Because
men everywhere despise it. Stand fast in these things. What can we do? We can pray like
a bacchic of old. If God's pleased to work a work
of grace in this age, he can. And if it's his purpose to do
so, he will do so or listen to me, if God's pleased to work
a work of grace in this age, Meryl Hart, He can. And if He's
pleased to do so, He will do so in the response of His heart
to our crying hearts for Him. When Zion travailed, she brought
forth her children. Oh, God, teach us to prevail
in birth for the souls of men. When Zion prevailed, she brought
forth her children. Oh, Lord, I've heard thy speech
and was afraid. Oh, Lord, revive thy work in
the midst of the years. Preserve alive your people. In
the midst of the years, make known. Make yourself known. Oh, God. Make yourself known
in this day. Oh, God. Stoop from heaven, stretch
out your mighty arm, and make this generation to know that
you are God in heaven. In wrath, remember mercy. There is yet a remnant, according
to the election of grace, who must be saved. And we must put
God in remembrance, pleading with Him to save His people.
We can and must do something else. We can and must preach
the gospel in this day. Oh, what a day in which to live. What a day in which to live.
God has given us the treasure of his grace in these earthen
vessels to carry the light of the gospel in this dark world
to perishing sinners for the glory of God and the calling
out of his elect. Now, look at verses 16 and 17. This is my prayer for you, and
this is God's promise to every sinner who trusts his son. Now
the Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which
hath loved us, and given us an everlasting consolation. He sends
delusion to others, but he loved us. He sends others confusion,
he gives us everlasting consolation. and good hope through grace. Good hope. A good hope is hope
that stands good no matter what the test, no matter what the
trial, no matter what the storm, no matter what the trouble. A
good hope, a good hope. A good hope is hope built upon
Jesus Christ crucified. That's all my hope, what Christ
did. Christ is, where He is, what
He's doing. That's my hope. That's my hope.
His blood, His atonement, His power, His grace, that's my hope. That's it. But what about you? There's nothing in me, nothing
felt by me, nothing done by me, nothing experienced by me that
gives me hope. My hope is the Son of God. My hope is Jesus Christ the Lord. God give you a good hope through
grace and comfort your hearts and establish you in every good
word and work for Christ's sake. Amen.