Good morning. Let's open this
morning's service with hymn number 62 in your hardbacked hymnal.
Number 62, Crown Him with Many Crowns. Let's all stand together.
? Crown Him with many crowns ?
The Lamb upon His throne ? Hark how the heavenly anthem drowns
? All music but its own ? Awake my soul and sing ? Of Him who
died for thee and hail Him as thy matchless King through all
eternity. Crown Him the Lord of love. Behold His hands and side, rich
wounds yet visible above, in beauty glorified. No angel in the sky Can fully
bear that sight But downward bends his wandering eye At mysteries
so bright ? Crown him the Lord of life ? Who triumphed o'er
the grave ? Who rose victorious to the strife ? For those he
came to save ? His glories now we sing ? Who died and rose on
high Who died eternal life to bring, And lives that death may
die. Crown him the Lord of heaven,
one with the Father known, one with the Spirit through him given
from yonder glorious throne. to Thee be endless praise, for
Thou for us hast died. Be Thou, O Lord, through endless
days, adored and magnified. Please be seated. Good morning. If you'd like to
turn with me in your Bibles to 2 Thessalonians, we'll continue
our study in chapter 2, 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. Let's ask the Lord's blessings. Our merciful Heavenly Father,
we come before thy throne of grace, thanking you that we have
an advocate. We have a sin bearer, a substitute,
one with whom you are completely satisfied. And oh Lord, we pray
now that you would cause us to be satisfied with him as well.
that you would give us hearts of faith to look to thy dear
son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and find in him all the hope of our
salvation. Lord, apart from him, we have
nothing in and of ourselves. We come before thee empty handed. We pray that that you'd be pleased
for Christ's sake to have mercy upon us. Pray for your Holy Spirit
to enlighten the eyes of our understanding. We thank you,
Lord, for your word, and we pray that you would make it alive
and sharp and that you would reveal the thoughts and intents
of our hearts and enable us, Lord, to set our affections on
things above where Christ is seated at thy right hand. We pray for our brethren in Sarasota,
and we ask, Lord, that you would provide for them a pastor. Lord,
that you would bind their hearts together in the love of Christ. We ask it in Christ's name. Amen. It became very clear to me that
if the Lord was going to provide a pastor for the church in Sarasota
that I needed to move out of the way. And so for three and
a half years we've been going every Sunday to Sarasota and
we won't be doing that as of today. So we're hoping that They
will be able to come here when they don't have someone preach
for them. And I may go over once every six or eight weeks as they
have a need for that. But otherwise, we're not going
to be doing what we've been doing. So pray for them, that if the
Lord's purpose is to raise up a church there, that he'll provide
them a pastor. And they're going to be calling
some men to come preach for them. That's the situation in Sarasota. Very thankful for them and very
hopeful that the Lord will provide for them. And if he doesn't,
I'm sure that they are committed to come here. So you'll probably
see them off and on in the weeks to come. Also, John Chapman has
become the pastor at the church where Rupert Reibenbach used
to pastor in Spring Lake, North Carolina. And I called John and
invited him to come and preach at our conference in January. So that's January 12th, 13th,
and 14th. It'll be here before you know
it. But right now, John and Todd and Clay Curtis are scheduled
to be here. So keep that in your mind and
on your heart and ask the Lord to bless that meeting. Alright,
2 Thessalonians chapter 2. I've titled this, Who is Antichrist? Who is Antichrist? I listened
to somebody just recently, very famous, very popular, I guess
I should say, preacher, trying to identify a particular individual
as the Antichrist. And I thought, you know, you're
just pointing at him to take the attention off of yourself. And that's always the case. Whenever
you hear someone in religion pointing to a particular individual
as the Antichrist and trying to draw things to a close, they're
generally doing that to take the attention off of themselves.
Because Antichrist is a spirit. It's not a particular individual.
It's not going to be a world leader. Antichrist is in the
world now. Antichrist has been in the world,
we know, for at least 2,000 years. Let me show you that. You have
your Bibles open to 2 Thessalonians. Turn with me to 1 John. 1 John. And we'll read a couple of verses
here. 1 John chapter 2. Now John wrote these words under
the inspiration of the Holy Spirit 2,000 years ago. And here's what
God said 2,000 years ago in chapter 2, beginning at verse 18. Little
children, it is the last time. Now when the scriptures speak
of the last days, it's talking of that entire period of time
between the first and second coming of Christ. And God has
revealed the second coming of Christ in such a way that every
generation of believers have been able to anticipate His coming
in their lifetime. And so I anticipate His coming
in my lifetime. I'm longing, waiting. We join
our voice with John, who closed out this canon of scripture with,
come, Lord Jesus, even now, come. And so John says, we're in these
last times, and as you have heard, that Antichrist shall come, and
even now there are many Antichrists, whereby we know that it is the
last time. So John says there's Antichrist
all about us. And then in verse 19 he says,
they went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had
been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us. But they
went out that they might be made manifest that they were not of
us. So this spirit of Antichrist influenced some individuals who
had made professions of faith in Christ, and now they have
abandoned the gospel and followed after Antichrist. But you have
an unction from the Holy One, and you know all things. I have not written unto you because
you know not the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie
is of the truth." Now there's the spirit of Antichrist. The
spirit of Antichrist is all that is contrary to Christ. Everything that robs Christ of
His glory in salvation. Everything that adds to what
He has accomplished or takes away from His perfect work. is antichrist and john said john
tells us look back with me uh... or no look forward to chapter
four adverse one beloved believe not every spirit but try the
spirits whether they have god because many false prophets are
gone out into the world so there's antichrist A little bit of leaven
leavens the whole lump. So one lie inserted into the
gospel of God's free grace in the finished, accomplished work
of the Lord Jesus Christ destroys the gospel. And the world is
full of false prophets. And so when the Lord says, try
the spirits to see whether they be of God, listen to what men
say about Christ. And if they're not giving Him
all the glory in salvation, then they are anti-Christ. Now, look at chapter 4 of 1 John,
where we were just there. So let's go to verse 2. Hereby
know ye the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesseth
that Jesus is come in the flesh is of God. Every spirit that confesses that
Jesus is the Christ and that in coming in the flesh, He satisfied
all the demands of God's righteousness in His perfect life. A body Thou
hast made for me. It is written in the volume of
the book, I have come to do thy will, O God." So the Lord Jesus
Christ coming in the flesh is a testimony of the life of the
Lord Jesus Christ being all of our righteousness. He lived out
a perfect life of righteousness. I have no righteousness in the
flesh. We are the true circumcision, which worship God in the Spirit,
rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in our flesh. So there's the truth. Anybody that has confidence in
their flesh, anybody that adds to the perfect righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ with their own works or with their
own will, is anti-christ is anti-christ if you confess that jesus has
come in the flesh you're not just you're not just confessing
a historical event as you know that the things that god says
are not just what happened but why they happened and confessing
that jesus came in the flesh is confessing that what he did
in his body was to fulfill all righteousness What do you tell
John? Suffer to be so that we might
fulfill all righteousness. The Lord Jesus Christ came into
this world a man in a body, born of a woman, born under the law
to redeem those who are judged, condemned by the law. All those
who are under the law, Christ came under the law. That's what
it means to confess that Jesus has come in the flesh. So any
message of salvation that adds to the perfect righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ by giving us something to do is anti-Christ. Now, look what he says in verse
3, And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come
in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of Antichrist,
whereof you have heard that it should come, and even now already
is in the world. Now, what else did the Lord Jesus
Christ do in His flesh? Besides satisfying the demands
of God's holy law, being God's perfect man and establishing
a perfect righteousness on behalf of His people, what else did
He do in His flesh? The body says, the Scripture
says that He bore in His body upon that tree all the sins of
all of God's people and satisfied God's divine justice. So not
only did he establish righteousness in the flesh, but he satisfied
justice in the flesh. So anyone that suggests that
Jesus Christ died for someone who is not going to be saved
is denying what Jesus Christ came to do in the flesh. That's
what he came to do. He came to save his people. And
He accomplished their salvation in the flesh, in the body. So, every message of religion,
every message of religion that robs from Christ His glory in
establishing the righteousness of His people in His body, in
His perfect life, By adding to that something that you do is
anti-Christ. Any message of salvation that
declares that Christ's death on Calvary's cross was anything
less than perfectly successful in actually saving his people.
He didn't just make an offer of salvation, he actually accomplished
their salvation by the sacrifice of himself once and for all on
Calvary's cross. And how many messages have you
heard that deny those two glorious truths. They deny that Jesus
is the Christ and that he's come in the flesh. Denying that he's
the Christ. People say, well, Jesus is the
Christ. But the very essence of the word Christ means anointed
one. That's the same word for Messiah.
He came anointed With the oil of gladness, the scripture says,
above his fellows. In other words, he came in the
full power of the Spirit of God to accomplish the purpose for
which God sent him, which was the salvation of his people by
his righteousness and by his shed blood on Calvary's cross. Salvation's finished. It's accomplished. It's done, and he gets all the
glory for it. So anybody that talks about a
Jesus, maybe they'll call him Christ. But if they add anything
to his perfect life, if they add anything to his perfect death,
if they take anything away from it, it's Antichrist. Antichrist. Alright, turn back
with me to 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, I'm sorry, chapter 2. Because
anti-Christ now is spoken of here in different terms. Now, you remember in 1 Thessalonians
chapter 4, well, go back with me just in case you don't remember.
Chapter 4, 1 Thessalonians, just a page back. Verse 13, for I would not have
you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep,
that you saw or not, even as others which have no hope. For
if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them
also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this
we say. Now they had obviously asked
him a question about they were anticipating the coming of Christ
in their life, and yet Some of those who professed faith who
did not depart, they remained with them, have now passed on. They've died in the flesh. And
so the question is, what about them? And, um, and so the Lord
is, um, is, is instructing us on how, what, what about those
who die in the flesh before the coming of Christ, before the
second coming of Christ? Verse 14, for this we say unto
you by the word of the Lord, and we which are alive and remain
unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend
from heaven, and with the shout, and with the voice of the archangel,
and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise
first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up
together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air,
and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore, comfort
ye one another with these words." And then he goes into talking
about the times and the seasons. No man knows he's going to come
as a thief in the night. I hear that there's some religious
people that are talking about the coming of Christ being tomorrow
because of this solar eclipse that's going to take place. the scripture says that that
uh... when manna speak of his coming
that's when he's not coming uh... that he's coming as a he's coming
as a thief in the night uh... so but but he is coming and every
believer is is excited about the coming of christ and sold
this church now has been instructed on watching that and waiting
for his coming So the spirit of Antichrist has come in and has deceived these believers
in thinking that he's coming right now. You know, he's going
to come tomorrow, he's going to come next week. They've put
a time on his coming. And so that's now what the Lord's
addressing in chapter 2 of 2 Thessalonians. Look what he says. Now we beseech
you, brethren, by the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and
by our gathering together unto Him. We're comforting you. That's what the word beseech
means. We're going to speak some words of truth that will be a
comfort to your heart about the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
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
the Lord is at hand." Don't let someone come in and deceive you. Your anticipation of the coming
of Christ, if you don't understand what God has said, will make
you vulnerable. to an anti-christ who might come
in and deceive you into thinking that he's coming today or he's
coming tomorrow uh... pinning a date on the coming
of christ i know some of you that are here uh... this morning
have been deceived in that area uh... you you were you were caught
up with a man who had uh... put a date on the coming of christ
and uh... and that's exactly what that's
exactly what's happening here that wasn't what you experienced
wasn't new it was happening in the church at that's when i cut
someone had come in and said that crisis coming on this date
or he's coming today and i'm sure that a lot of them did what
some of those people in our generation did who followed after that man
who gave uh... forgot his name what was his
name harold camping harold camping uh... and uh... harold camping
was a calvinist preacher who put a date on the coming of christ
and convinced a lot of people a lot of people that uh... that Jesus was coming on this
particular date. And when that date came and went
and he didn't come, he reset the date. And he did that like
three or four times. I don't know how many times he
did it. And people kept following after him, thinking, you know,
maybe he's got something. That's exactly what's happening
here. And Paul's saying, don't be deceived by those who come
in and tell you that they're speaking for me. They're not
speaking for me. Verse 4, so this deceiver now, let no
man, verse 3, let no man deceive you by any means for that day
shall not come except there come first a falling away first and
that the man of sin be revealed the son of perdition. Now the
man of sin, the son of perdition, the wicked man is not an individual. He's not an individual. it's a it's the spirit of antichrist
what the lord is saying is that in these early days of the church
uh... there was a there was an understanding
of the gospel everyone who profess faith in christ heard the gospel
through a gospel preacher and uh... and what the lord saying
is there's gonna come a time when christianity is no longer
going to be the gospel and that happened And it happened. It's
happened. It's in our generation. People
in the world talk about Christianity. They're not talking about the
gospel. They're talking about that spirit
of Antichrist. They're talking about that. And
that's what the Lord's saying here. There's got to be a falling
away first before the coming of Christ. He's not coming right
away. The son of perdition has to be
revealed. The spirit of Antichrist has
to take over so that the whole Christian movement, if you will,
is going to be identified with this spirit of Antichrist. And that's exactly where we are
now. It really took hold in the third
century and now for 1,700 years. The spirit of Antichrist has
been identified in the world as Christianity. Alright, so this son of perdition,
this man of sin, which is going to be revealed, which had not
yet been revealed. His spirit was in the world.
John makes that clear. He's already among us. The seeds
of Antichrist are coming in, but the full maturity of the
tree has not yet occurred. And Christ is not going to come
until that tree is grown and begins to bear fruit in the world.
And that's what we are. So he says, this spirit of Antichrist,
this man of sin, the son of perdition, he opposeth and exalteth himself
above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that
he as God sits in the temple of God, showing himself that
he is God. Now, a message of salvation,
a message of salvation that says God loves everybody, Christ died
for everybody, God wants everybody to be saved, you've got a free
will. You've got to do something. You've
either got to make a decision, exercise your will, or you've
got to perform a work or you've got to live up to some standard
of righteousness in order to prove yourself to be a Christian
you gotta do something or God can't save you God votes for you the devil votes
against you you break the tie you hold the trump card you've
got the power you can be saved when you're ready to be saved
that is the spirit of Antichrist That makes man sitting on the
throne of God. And that's exactly the message
that is being promoted in all of what's called Christianity
today. Man has set himself up on the
throne of God. And God is in the heavens wringing
his hands, wishing that men would let him have his way, but he's
powerless to save. He can't accomplish what he wants
to do because man won't let him have his way. What a weak Jesus. What a wimp God. That's what the Lord said. This
spirit has got to come and he's got to take over so that the
whole world thinks that's Christianity. before the Christ will come.
Well, that's happened. That's happened. Verse 5. Remember ye not that
when I was yet with you I told you these things? This isn't
new to you. I'm just reminding you what I
already told you. And know ye not what withholdeth
that he might be revealed in his time? God is withholding. The Lord's saying God's withholding
the coming of Christ until this son of perdition, this man of
sin is revealed. Has he been revealed to you?
is revealed to me do I see the you know we people come and they
hear the gospel you know what I can tell you how many times
I've heard somebody say to me we know you preaching the same
thing that my preacher preaches and all they hear they hear words
they hear Jesus they hear God they hear salvation they hear
grace they hear righteousness they hear words and they think
that they're hearing the same words that they're hearing from
the Antichrist I am and and Paul said no this is a this is this
a different message and and the Lord is withholding the coming
of Christ until that antichrist has been revealed you tell the
difference can't you I'm is night and day it's black and white
is this up and down there's no point of compared no what John
say no lie is of the truth you lie about my god I, I hate your
God. I hate your God. And you hate
my God. And that's, you know, that, that,
that's the way it is. I mentioned this to you before.
I don't know if it was top lady to Wesley or Wesley to top lady. I've heard it both ways. But
one of them said to the other, your God is my devil. And it doesn't really matter
which one said it, because it's true both ways, isn't it? It's true
both ways. Your God is my devil. And that's
exactly what the Lord's saying. This man of sin is going to be
revealed. And when he's revealed, when
he's revealed through faith in the child of God, we conclude
that's not my God. That's not my God. That's the
Antichrist. That's the man of sin. That's
the son of perdition. That's the evil, wicked spirit.
That's the spirit of Babylon, the mother of all harlots, who's
going to be destroyed in the coming of Christ. All right? And now verse 6, And now you
know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
For the mystery of iniquity doth already work. What's the mystery
of iniquity? It's when men think that what
they do as good, God says, is evil. Last Sunday I was looking for
Malachi 2.17 and I couldn't find it because I was in Micah. You
can't find Malachi in Micah. But if you'll turn with me to
Malachi 2.17, the last book of the Old Testament, We'll try
to get it right this time. Nothing's changed. Nothing's
changed. Even in Malachi's day was the
spirit of Antichrist. In Israel was the spirit of Antichrist.
Verse 17. You have wearied the Lord with
your words, yet you say, wherein have we wearied him? When you
say, everyone that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord.
Now that's what Antichrist says. Antichrist says, you pray this
prayer, you perform this work, you make this decision, you give
God a chance, you take the first step, Or you prove yourself by
your holiness and by your righteousness that you're a child of God. You look anywhere other than
the Lord Jesus Christ for the hope of your salvation. And what
do men in religion call those activities? No one would say
that committing murder is good, or lying is good, or stealing
is good. So when God says you have wearied
me with your words, wherein have we wearied you? You've wearied
me by saying that which is evil is good. You're calling your
religious activity your goodness. That's why the Lord said, Why
callest thou me good? For there is none good but God.
And Paul said, In me, that is, in my flesh dwelleth no good
thing. So when you call something you do good, God says it's evil. And that's the mystery of iniquity
because the religious world can't see that. They really believe
it's good. They really believe that God's
pleased with them. They believe that they've earned
favor with God by a decision that they've made or by a work
that they've performed. They believe that. They're confused. They've bought into the lie. And then they say, where is the
judgment of God? You see that, the rest of verse
17? Where is the judgment of God? God's not going to judge
me. Why? Because I'm a good person. I'm
not gonna be judged. They've made a covenant with
death and with hell they're in agreement and they believe that.
And the Lord said, when I separate the sheep from the goats on the
Day of Judgment, the goats are gonna say, those on my left are
gonna say, but Lord, we did many wonderful works in Thy name.
We cast out demons. We preach the gospel. We prayed.
We made a decision. We did all these good things.
We worked out the soup kitchen. depart from me, you workers of
iniquity." Now, when God calls them workers of iniquity, He's
not talking about the bad things they did that they're not talking
about. He's talking about those things they just professed. That's
the mystery of iniquity. That's the spirit of Antichrist.
Men putting their hope in something other than the perfect righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Men putting their hope in something
other than the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And God
says it's the spirit of Antichrist. And Christ is not going to come
until that spirit takes over the world. And that's where we're at. I
go back with me there's so much in this chapter look it up look
it up verse 7 for the mystery of iniquity death already work
only he who now let us will let until he be taken out of the
way God's let that happen God's letting the spirit of iniquity
this man of sin he's let that happen until the man of sin be
taken out of the way When that happens, look what's going to
happen. And then shall that wicked... God calls what man calls good,
God calls wicked. God calls it wicked. And when
God reveals Christ to your heart, you conclude that everything
that you've ever done is sinful. That's the conclusion you come
to about yourself. You say with Job, behold, I am
vile. You say with Isaiah, woe is me,
I am undone, I'm a man of unclean lips. You say with Daniel, my
comeliness, when I saw him, my strength and my beauty and those
things that I thought were good in me were turned into corruption. You see, it all depends on what
you compare yourself to, isn't it? You compare yourself to yourself,
you can fool yourself into thinking you're getting better. You compare
yourself to other men, you can fool yourself into thinking you
are better. But if God ever stands you in his presence, you'll become like John in Revelation. He just fell down on his face
as a dead man. dependent on the life and death
of the Lord Jesus Christ for all the hope of your salvation.
That's the gospel. And everything else is anti-Christ. So when the wicked is revealed,
Verse 8, "...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 most of the stuff that goes on in
religion is smoke and mirrors. You know that. You know, a preacher
wears a hearing device and somebody's out there in the congregation
and he's talking to somebody and he tells the preacher what's
going on so he can act like a prophet from the pulpit and point out
somebody and tell them, you know, what... Most of that's just smoke
and mirrors. People trying to deceive people
into thinking that they've got some spiritual power. But it's
not all smoke and mirrors. There's some demonic power involved
in some of that stuff. And people are deceived by it
all the time. So the Lord says, when I come,
I'm going to destroy that man of sin. Oh, I don't want to be
destroyed with him, do you? I want to be found in Christ,
not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that
righteousness which is by the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. Even him who's coming is after
verse 9, who's coming is after the working of Satan with all
power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of
unrighteousness." Now, men are born into this world
with a conscience and the knowledge of God. They know right from
wrong. You don't need a preacher to
tell you what you should be doing and what you shouldn't be doing.
You know what you ought to be doing. now we need the power
to do it work I need Christ in me I need your spirit I need
your ability I've got no strength in and of myself but so we're
not deceived about what's wrong is wrong what's right right here's
here's the same thing that Malachi was say the deceivableness of
on righteousness when men call bear Righteousness. All our righteousnesses are as
filthy rags. If I call something I do, or
a decision I make, or a work I perform as righteous in the
sight of God, I've been deceived. I've been deceived. I don't care
how good it was, man at his very best state, the best prayer you've
ever prayed, the best work you've ever performed, the best thing
you've ever done. If you look to that, God judges
you based on that. There's no righteousness in that,
is there? No righteousness whatsoever.
The best thing we've ever done is sin. Oh, but men are deceived. Why? Because the Antichrist has
come. The son of perdition, the working
of Satan, has come and he's taken the name of Christ. And he deceived
people in thinking that their righteousness is somehow going
to earn them favor with God. So with all deceivableness of
unrighteousness in them that perish, because they receive
not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. The love
of the truth. Lord, don't let me be deceived.
Let me tell you another deceit, a deceit out there in religion,
in reformed religion, in Calvinistic religion, replacing the Lord
Jesus Christ with doctrine. with doctrine. Because they had no love of the
truth. I am the way, the truth, and
the life. You see, doctrine won't save
you. Christ saves. But the Antichrist is satisfied
with anything whatsoever you want to replace Christ with.
Just replace him with anything. Doesn't matter. You can replace
him with a life of debauchery. You can replace him with religion.
You can replace him with doctrine. You can replace him with anything.
Just don't come to Christ. Don't depend upon Christ for
your salvation. Anything else will do. Only by the Spirit of God can
we have a love for Christ. Lord, if you don't give me a
love for Christ." God's either going to give you a love for
Christ, or He's going to give you a spirit of delusion. One
way or the other. There's no in-between. Look at
the next verse, "...and for this cause God shall send them strong
delusion that they shall believe..." Now, I've pointed this out on
many occasions, but that little word, A, that's in the King James,
that's an indefinite article. You can look it up in the Greek
language. It's not there. The definite article is there.
The is there. I don't know why the translators
put a there, but it's the word the. God shall send them a strong
delusion that they should believe the lie. The lie. What is the lie? The lie is that
you can do something to make what Jesus did work for you.
You can make a decision. You can pray a prayer. You can
perform a work. That's the lie. The lie is free
will works religion. God says it's antichrist. The
world is deceived by it. World's deceived by it. Why?
Because they have no love for Christ. No love for Christ. Oh, Lord, give me a love for
the Lord Jesus Christ, lest I be deceived. All right. I'm sorry. We're going to take
a real brief break, okay? All right. th