Alright, let's open our Bibles
to the book of 2 Thessalonians now. 2 Thessalonians chapter
2. I began going through this chapter
last Sunday morning, but I want to continue on through it. Last
Sunday I entitled the message, Apostasy and Antichrist. That word apostasy means to fall
away. But this morning, I've entitled
the message this, Christ and Antichrist. And we're going to
look at this, but let's reread the first few verses in this
passage concerning the second coming of Christ, on this subject
of Christ and Antichrist. Let me tell you, I've been studying
this. going through this series on
the last days, went through several passages of scripture, did a
study through Mark 13, and I've just, I tell you, I really have
a burden in this, in this our generation, a burden for this
generation because I really believe that what's being described here
in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 is that we're going through it right
now. I know it began in the early days of the New Testament church,
but it's kind of mushroomed out. It's spread, and that's what
Paul's talking about here. But let's just read the first
two verses here. First of all, what he's showing
here is that the Lord Jesus Christ is coming again. He is going
to return to this earth. He's going to come and gather
His people and judge this world for sin. And He says, Now we
beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
This is a sure thing. And by our gathering together
unto Him, that's the church, His people, all who trust Him
and believe in Him and rest in Him, all of God's elect, all
who are washed in His blood and clothed in His righteousness,
He says in verse 2, that you be not soon shaken in mind or
be troubled neither by spirit, I'm talking about false preachers
here who came in preaching lies about the second coming, who
did it by, claimed to be doing it by divine inspiration, that's
spirit, nor by word or in their sermons, nor by letter as from
us, nor by forged letters, as the day of Christ is at hand,
or as if the day of Christ is coming in their day. That's the
early church. And so we see that the Lord Jesus
Christ is coming again. We don't know exactly when. We don't know the exact day and
the exact hour. But we know He is. I believe
it's soon. Maybe every generation said that,
but I believe we have more warrant from Scripture to say that than
any other generation. Obviously so, because we're the
last generation living in this time, and there may be a generation
after us, but I know it's soon. It's soon. But look over at 1
Thessalonians 5, just back one page that Brother Aaron read.
Now, he says in verse 1, he says he's coming, and we can comfort
each other with these words. As I said last week, his second
coming is sure and certain. We know that, number one, because
the Word of God says he's coming again, but number two, because
of his first coming. He came first, the first time,
to put away the sins of his sheep. That's why he came. He came to
die. He came in a condescension. He came in a humiliation. when
He was made flesh and dwelt among us as God-man because the children
are partakers of flesh and blood. He had to do the same without
sin. And He bore our sins to Calvary
and paid that debt in full and brought in a righteousness that
enables God to be just and justifier. Not only that, a righteousness
that secures and demands our own resurrection and our own
final glory in heaven with Him. That's how important that is.
You see, Christ didn't come to try to save you if you would
let Him. That's not the message of grace.
That's not the message of Christ. He didn't come to save you if
you'd just cooperate because you're better than those who
won't cooperate. He came to save His people from
their sins. That's His name. That's what
Jesus means, Savior. His name shall be called Jesus,
Matthew 121, for He shall save His people from their sins. And
is he able to do it? Well, his name shall be called
Immanuel, which being interpreted is God with us. And he can save
and he does save. So we can comfort each other.
But he says in verse 1 of 1 Thessalonians 5, But of the times and the seasons,
brethren, you have no need that I write unto you, for you yourselves
know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief
in the night. Now that means that day is going
to come suddenly And it's unexpectedly. But now look at verse 3. Now
listen to this. He says, For when they shall
say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them,
as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape. Now the peace and safety that
he's talking about there is in a religious way. And he's talking
about people who have a false hope. who believe they're saved,
who believe that whenever the Lord comes again, I'm going to
be safe. And what he's talking about is
a presumptuous, a false hope that is based on a wrong ground.
And that's the issue. Now, you might say in your mind,
and I'll say in my mind, I don't want to be presumptuous. Do you?
None of us want to be presumptuous. Well, what is presumption? It's
a false hope. It's an assurance and a sense
of security and safety that's based upon a false hope, a false
ground. Well, here's the issue then.
What is your ground? You say, I'm saved. Now, most
of you in here would probably say that. I don't know, maybe
some of you wouldn't. I don't know. But if you claim to be
saved, if you claim to be safe from the wrath of God, If you
claim to be at peace with God, the question you need to consider
is not how you feel. The question you need to consider
is not what other people say. Well, mom says I'm saved, you
know, or dad says I am, or my wife says I am, or my husband
says I am. Well, that's okay, but if that's
your assurance, it's a false hope. The question you need to
consider is not, well, have I done enough? Because I'll answer that
question for you, every one of you, including this preacher
up here. No, we haven't done enough to give ourselves peace
and safety. If you're depending upon your
doing enough to keep you safe from the wrath of God when the
Lord comes again, you're in a false refuge. Am I telling you the
truth? For by deeds of law shall no
flesh be justified in God's... And I want to tell you something
now. That's the issue between Christ and Antichrist, right
there. That's the issue. It's not how you wear your hair
or what clothes you wear or where you go or where you don't go.
It's what is your ground of peace. You say peace, safety. Well,
he says, when they shall say peace and safety. Who's the they
there? Unbelievers. Who think they're saved. And he said they won't escape.
Well, what is the only right ground of peace and safety? Well,
the only right ground is Christ and His blood and His righteousness
alone. And I think sometimes we get kind of getting... I know
myself, I do this. You kind of get lulled into some
kind of a... of a stupor there because you
don't want people to say, well, you just keep repeating the same
thing. Well, I don't care anymore. Because it's so. That's the issue
now. And I just hope that we don't
find that out too late. The issue is this, am I washed
from all my sins in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ? Do
I stand before God, now and at judgment, in His righteousness,
charged, and counted, imputed to me, or do I stand on my own? That's the issue. I'm telling
you, that's the issue. And that's any other ground,
but Christ and Him crucified and risen again is a false ground. So he says in verse 4, now listen
to this, He says, but you, brethren, are not in darkness. We have
the light of Christ. We have the light of truth. We
have the light of the Spirit. We have the light of His grace. We have the light of the gospel.
We know the score because God's revealed it to us in His Word
by the Spirit. I know what I am. I know that if God were to judge
me at any moment in my life now and in the future, based upon
my best efforts to serve Him that I would be lost forever.
I know that. Somebody says, well, you must
be a pretty bad person. Well, you don't know the half
of it. But here's the point. We're all in that same boat because
we fell in Adam. That's the ruination of man,
isn't it? We're sinners. Sinners and and if we're saved
by grace, it's all of grace, isn't it? It's not part of grace. It's not part God and part you
I've been I think brother Henry used to say it all the time He
said, you know people would say well Christ Christ has done his
part and you do yours Well and asked some old preacher he said
well what part did you do and he said well I'll tell you said
Christ I did all the sinning Christ did all the saving and
And that's about the way it is. That is the way it is. Well,
he says, you're not in darkness, that the day should overtake
you as a thief. Now, when he says here that the
day is going to overtake them as a thief in the night, he says
here also in verse 4 that you're not in darkness, that the day
should overtake you as a thief. Now, what does he mean? Well,
what he means is this. We don't know when Christ is
coming again. We don't know the day and the hour. We know that
He is coming again. And so that His coming, it'll
be sudden. It'll even be sudden to us. I
mean, you think about that now. If He would come right now, it'd
be sudden. But we expect Him to come. That's what He's saying.
Not like a fellow who's in his house, you know, and doesn't
expect a thief to break in. That happens suddenly and unexpectedly. It'll happen sudden for us, but
not unexpectedly. We live in anticipation of His
coming. We know He's coming. I don't
know when, but He's coming. So He's not going to overtake
His children as a thief. You see, we know He's coming,
we expect it. So He says in verse 6, Therefore
let us not sleep as do others. That's the sleep of the dead. That's dead spiritually. unbelievers, but let us watch
and be sober." Now go back over to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2.
The Lord Jesus Christ is coming again. We studied over in Mark
chapter 13. Christ said that the beginning
of the last days was marked by two great events. One was the
destruction of Jerusalem, the destruction of the Jewish temple.
Alright, that took place in A.D. 70, that's already passed. And
that was a physical manifestation, a physical sign, you might say,
from God that the Old Covenant had already been abolished. Now,
when was the Old Covenant, the law of Moses, abolished by way
of fulfillment? It was abolished on the cross.
When Christ said it's finished and when he died and gave up
the ghost, you remember the significance of what happened in the temple
at that time? The veil was torn into from top to bottom, signifying
that the way into the holiest of all has already been accomplished
through the blood of Christ. Hebrews chapter 10 teaches that
beautifully. And what he's showing there is
this. It's like God's testimony to the whole world that there
is no salvation for sinners. There's no justification for
sinners by the law, by their works. That's what that means.
You know, that whole old covenant, that whole law of Moses, the
Ten Commandments, the ceremonial law, the civil laws, everything
that was involved in that code of conduct that God gave to that
nation. Do you know why it was mainly
given? It was mainly given to expose their sin and to show
them the impossibility of sinners being saved by their works. That's
why it was given. And that's why when the unbelieving
Jews perverted it and turned it into a self-righteous system
of works salvation, they went away from God. They denied God. They didn't look to the promised
Messiah to come to put away their sins. They thought they could
be righteous by their works. And again, now that's the issue.
All right, we'll see that. And the second thing that Christ
said in Mark 13 that was going to take place was, The deception,
and listen to him, this is where I have a burden for this generation,
and for all of us now, the deception of false Christianity. Remember
he said, they'll come say, I'm Christ, or here's Christ, or
there's Christ. And some of them will be so close
that if it were possible, they could deceive the very elect.
You remember in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter
7, he spoke of wolves in what? Remember? In sheep's clothing? What does that mean? That means a person who claims
to be a follower of Christ and outwardly appears that way, but
inwardly they're ravening wolves. The Apostle Paul warned the church
in Ephesus that when he was gone and when the apostles were gone
away, that ravening wolves would creep in seeking to devour whom
they would come up from within the church. What he's talking
about in the deception of false Christianity is really a corruption
of the church here on earth. And then Paul says, now look
at verse 3 of 2 Thessalonians 2, now right in line with that.
Here's what he's saying, two things will happen in line with
that deception of false Christianity that will mark the coming of
Christ to be soon. Two things, alright, here they
are. Verse 3, now he says, let no man deceive you by any means,
for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first. Now that's the apostasy. That's
the apostasy. That's the great apostasy. That's
the first thing. And what he means by that, you
remember we talked about that last week mainly. What that's showing is that what
is generally in the world known as Christianity will be Christian
in name only. They'll call themselves Christian.
but they'll deny the truth of Christ. And they'll bring in
all kinds of other doctrines, doctrines of works, doctrines
of will-worship, doctrines of idolatry, all kinds of doctrines
that will either confuse or deny or rival Christ and the salvation
that God freely gives by His grace in Christ. That's the great
falling away. So, in other words, you ask the
average person today what a Christian is, or what is true Christianity,
they don't know. They just don't know. They don't
study the Word. They're not hearing the gospel. They're hearing what
Paul called in Galatians 1, we'll see that in a minute, another
gospel that's of a different kind. And in every case, It's
always the introduction at some stage to some degree in some
way of man's works or man's will in order to attain or maintain
salvation. That's what it always is. Now
let me be careful here now. Somebody said, well, don't you
believe in works? Oh, yes, I do. But I believe
what the Bible teaches about works. What does the Bible teach? Well, let's go back to the fundamentals. Ephesians 2, 8 through 10, all
right? You're familiar with Ephesians
2, 8 through 10. I quoted enough. You ought to be able to quote
it. What does it say? Ephesians 2, 8. For by grace
are you saved through faith And that not of yourselves, it's
the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. So
therefore, works are totally excluded from the ground of salvation. And then verse 10 says, for we
are His workmanship. In other words, a sinner saved
by grace is the workmanship of God, the creation of God. Created
in Christ Jesus, the new creation, the church, a sinner saved by
grace, is created in Christ Jesus by His work. His work of obedience
unto death on the cross, His blood, His righteousness. That's
what that is, all right? That's why Paul said, God forbid
that I should glory save in the cross, the death, the righteousness
of Christ. All that's the same thing now
in the scripture, all right? Now, he says, we are his workmanship
created in Christ Jesus. What does it say next? Unto good
works. Doesn't say because of good works,
does it? Doesn't say based on good works,
but unto good works which God hath before ordained that we
should walk in them. When did God ordain that? Well,
like He ordained everything before the foundation of the world.
So good works are the fruit, the result. They're not the cause
of salvation. They're not the ground of salvation.
They don't make me saved. They don't make me righteous
before God. They do not justify me. They're the fruit of the
life of God, the life of Christ within each and every sinner
saved by grace. Now that's what works are in
the Scripture. In fact, the Scripture even defines them this way as
the work of Christ in and through us. Paul said, it's not I, but
Christ, which worketh in me. So, this thing about introducing
works, you see, you've got to be careful with that. What does
it mean? And you know people have all
kinds of ideas, and that's the problem. Well, this great falling
away now, it's what it's talking about. It's right in line with
what Daniel called the abomination of desolation. And what that
is, the term abomination of desolation just simply means this. It's
a defilement, abomination, that's what that means. It's a defilement
or a dirtying up, you might say, that brings destruction, desolation. And you see some physical symbols
of that throughout history. For example, the first temple
of Solomon was destroyed. That's called the abomination
of desolation. And then there was another time
when the temple of Zerubbabel was destroyed. That's the abomination
of desolation. And then you see it another time
in AD 70 when the temple was finally destroyed by the Roman
army, and that's the abomination of desolation. But all those
physical signs picture and typify the ultimate abomination of desolation. What is that? Right here, that
falling away. It's when false doctrine creeps
into the church here on earth and corrupts it and takes the
place of where truth and Christ should be alone. That's the abomination
of desolation. That's the first thing. Look
at verse 3 again. Let no man deceive you, by any
means, for that day shall not come except there come a falling
away first, that great falling away, and that man of sin be
revealed, the son of perdition, This is the second thing. This
man of sin must be revealed, the son of perdition, 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. That is, parading himself. It's
a disguise, you see. In other words, he's taking upon
himself things that belong only to God. All right? That's the
second thing in line with that deception of false Christianity.
Now this, this is something else to see now. This man of sin revealed. Who is this man of sin? Well,
first of all, I want you to notice he's going to be revealed. Who's
he going to be revealed to? Not to the world. He's not going
to be revealed to the world. The world's in darkness. That's
what he said over here in 1 Thessalonians 4 and 5. The world's in darkness. The world's in deception. This
man of sin deceives the world. He's of Satan, the scripture
says in the book of Revelation. And this man of sin is going
to be revealed, but to whom? He's going to be revealed to
God's people. God's people who are enlightened to the glory
of God in the face of Jesus Christ. He's going to be exposed and
revealed to those who are looking to Christ alone for salvation,
for life, for righteousness, for forgiveness, for blessing,
for glory and eternity. Upon whom do you stand for your
salvation? Who are you looking to? Last
week I quoted my favorite hymn, My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness. Now, if he's truly your hope
and your ground and your peace and your safety, this will not
deceive you. Now, there'll be some who come,
oh, so close, he said. You remember that in Mark chapter
13 and Matthew 24? He said they'll come so close
that if it were possible, he said, they could deceive the
very elect. But you see, look here. Look on down. He says, let's go down to, well,
look at verse 5. He says, remember you not that
when I was yet with you, I told you these things? In other words,
Paul's just repeating to them what he'd already told them.
And he says, and now you know what withholdeth that he might
be revealed in his time. Now what Paul's saying is this,
that man of sin has not been revealed and exposed in their
day, in the day of the Thessalonians, the day that he's writing here.
There's something withholding here. There's something holding
him back, keeping him from going the full swing of what he's going
to do. And he says in verse 6, he says,
"...and now you know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in
his time." Well, what's holding him back? I'll tell you exactly
what it is. God is. God's in control here now. Don't
think that this great falling away and this man of sin being
revealed is a world out of control or in chaos. Oh no, God is in
control. Thank God he is now. Now look
at verse 7. He says, "...for the mystery
of iniquity doth already work." Now I think that's one of the
most interesting passages in all of Scripture. Listen to what
he said there. The mystery of iniquity. Now,
what is the mystery of iniquity? Well, what is a mystery in the
Bible? A mystery in the Bible is something that can only be
known by revelation. God must reveal it. You won't
know it, I won't know it, nobody will know it unless God reveals
it. That's what a mystery is in the
Scripture. It's not a mystery story. It's not something that
you can figure out if you see all the clues. No, it's not a
puzzle. It's just simply this. You're
not going to know anything about this, this iniquity, unless God
reveals it. I'm not going to know anything
about it unless God reveals it. That's what that mystery means,
alright? So what he's teaching us here is this. There's an iniquity
here. You know what iniquity is. We
use the term inequity. What it is, it's injustice. It's
sin. It's another word in the scripture for sin. That's what
iniquity is. He was bruised. Christ was bruised
for our iniquities. See, He died the just for the
unjust. And so, iniquity is just another
name for sin. Well, here's an iniquity that
you and I, nor any person on earth in Adam, fallen, dead and
trespassed as sin, can recognize and understand and know unless
God shows us. Now, what do you suppose He's
talking about? Well, go back, hold your finger there and go
back to John chapter 3. John chapter 3. Now I tell you, this is powerful
stuff, isn't it? You know, the natural man, even
lost people, recognize some things as being sinful, don't they? We all do, by nature. Paul wrote
about that in Romans chapter 1. He talked about the conscience
whereby we accuse and excuse one another. But there is an iniquity, a sin,
a transgression that we don't see by nature until God shows
us. What is it? Look at John chapter
3 and look at verse 19. He's talking to Nicodemus who
was a religious man, an unbeliever who was trying to be saved and
accepted of God by his works. That's who he's talking to now.
And here's what he says in verse 19 to Nicodemus. After he told
Nicodemus, you must be born again, he says, and this is the condemnation,
that light is coming to the world. Now what's the light? That's
Christ. and the gospel that reveals Him and identifies Him as the
only Savior, the only righteousness that God will accept is Christ
and Him crucified. Isn't that right? The obedience
unto death of Christ. That light has come into the
world, and men love darkness rather than light. Men, by nature,
this is us by nature, you see, we love darkness rather than
light. Why? because their deeds were
evil. Now, what are those deeds? Well,
who's he talking to? He's talking to Nicodemus, isn't
he? A religious man trying to be
saved by his works. He was an unbelieving Jew. What
does Romans 9 say about Israel in their unbelief? They sought
righteousness, as it were, by works of the law. Now the gospel
of God's grace in Christ exposes that to be evil in the sight
of God. Why? Because it denies the glory
of God in salvation. because it denies the preeminence
of Christ. If you can be saved by your works,
if I can be saved by my works, Christ is dead in vain. That's
what Paul said in Galatians chapter 2, I think it's verse 21. He
said, if righteousness come by the law, by my works, then Christ
died in vain. So every time a sinner A human
being born in Adam seeks to be saved and accepted of God by
their deeds of the law. What are they saying by that?
They're saying Christ died for nothing. That's evil. It's evil because
it's self-righteous. It's evil because it's proud.
It's the pride that God hates. And look on in verse 20. He says,
for everyone that doeth evil hateth the light. In other words,
if you're proud of your works and your efforts and you think
they give you peace and safety and make you saved and accepted
before God, then if I stand up here and tell you that that's
evil, how are you going to react to that unless God shows you
the truth? How are you going to react to
that? You say, well, I've tried to do my best all my life. Well,
that's okay, but it will not save you, and if you think it
does, that's evil in God's sight. That's unbelief. How are you
going to react to that unless God shows you the truth of who
you are and reveals unto you the mystery of iniquity? You
remember in Matthew chapter 7 and verse 21 what they say? He said,
many will say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not
prophesied in your name? Have we not cast out demons?
Have we not done many wonderful works? And he said, I'll say
unto them, depart from me, ye that worketh iniquity, I never
knew you. That's the mystery of iniquity.
They didn't think that was iniquity. I thought that was fine. God
should accept me based on the fact that I've preached in His
name. Let me tell you something. And I've told you this before.
Here's the thing. I've been preaching the gospel
for 30 years. But you take one message or all
the messages put together, even truthful, God-honoring messages,
and I'm telling you, they do not make me righteous before
God. Only Christ. makes me righteous
before God. You see what I'm saying? Somebody
might say, well then why do it? I'll tell you exactly why. Because
the grace of God compels me to do it. If it takes the legal
fire of hell to get you to do anything, that's a legalist.
What motivates us? Is it the love of God in Christ
or is it fear of punishment or mercenary promise of reward?
You hear me say that? Are you a hired soldier or are
you a willing, loving bond slave? Are you serving God just for
what you can get out of Him? Or because of what He's already
given? There's the difference. What compels you? What motivates
you? What drives you? What energizes
you? All of those things, you say.
That's what he's talking about. Look at verse 20 of John 3. He
says, For everyone that doeth evil hateth the light. Everybody
who's trying to save themselves by their works hates this light
of grace. Neither cometh to the light,
lest his deeds should be reproved. That means discovered, revealed,
exposed, the mystery of iniquity. But now look at verse 21. Now
here's the grace of God. But he that doeth truth cometh
to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, made known,
that they are wrought in God. You know what it means to say
wrought in God? It means they're the work of
God. Anything good that comes from me is the work of God. That's
what he's saying. It didn't save me, didn't keep
me saved, doesn't earn me this or that. It's just the fruit
of His power, His goodness, and His grace. That's the difference. Go back to 2 Thessalonians 2.
That's the mystery of iniquity. And this is what he's saying,
that already works. Paul said, it's working right there in their
day. John said it was working in his day, that mystery of iniquity. And then he says, verse 7, for
the mystery of iniquity doth already work, only he who now
letteth will let until he be taken out of the way. What that's
simply saying is this, it's already at work, but there's something
holding him back. But there's going to come a time
when he will not be held back, he's going to be set forth loose
upon the world, and that's when the great falling away will take
place, and that's when Antichrist really gets the hold on this
thing, what the world knows as Christianity. Not true Christianity
now, but a deception. Let me show you that. Look at
verse 8. He says, "...and then that wicked
be revealed." Now be revealed to who? Revealed to God's people.
Whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth. Now
you know what the spirit of His mouth is? It's His Word. That's the spirit of His mouth.
In other words, what He's telling us there is this. If you don't
want to be deceived by this mystery of iniquity, by this anti-Christ,
you better get into the Word of God. You better go by His
Word. And it says, "...and shall destroy
with the brightness of his coming." That's his second coming. "...even
him whose coming is after the working of Satan." Talking about
Antichrist. "...with all power and signs
and lying wonders." Things that will impress people religiously
now. Power, signs, lying wonders,
deceptive wonders. And it says in verse 10, listen
to this, it says, "...and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness."
Now there's an unrighteousness that deceives. That's the same
as that mystery of iniquity. In other words, they'll appear
to be preaching truth, they'll appear to have power, they'll
appear to do wonders, but it's a deceptiveness of unrighteousness
in them that perish, not in God's people now. God's people look
to Christ. They rest in Christ. God's people are under His blood,
clothed in His righteousness. We know what we are by nature. We know that if God were to let
us go, we'd fall. But it's in them that perish,
and listen to this, because they receive not the love of the truth
that they might be saved. What truth? That light that He
spoke of in John chapter 3, that exposes our deeds as being evil. That's why I said, how do you
react to that? How do I react to that? Do I love to hear the
truth of God's grace that puts me in the dust where I belong
and exalts Christ? What did John the Baptist say?
Christ must increase, I must what? Decrease. How far down must we go? I haven't
gotten to the bottom yet. How about you? How high must we preach Him?
We'll never ascend to that height. You can't preach Christ too high
or sinners too low, according to the Bible. And it says, because they receive
not the love of the truth. Do you love the truth? Where
is the truth? It's in Christ. He said, I am
the truth. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh
unto the Father but by me. Think about it. Now somebody
said, asked me one time, who is this man of sin? Who is Antichrist? I do not believe the Bible teaches
that he is a political figure. He's a religious figure. I don't
believe that he is one man. I believe it's a spirit turned
at 1 John chapter 2. I'm going to conclude in just
a second here on this because we'll pick up next week. But
look at 1 John chapter 2. Antichrist, technically, is that
spirit that comes in the name of Christ but denies the truth
of Christ. Anti- meaning against Christ.
But John writes it here in 1 John chapter 2. In fact, you don't
even see the term anti-Christ in scripture except in the writings
of John, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John. Actually, 1st John chapter 2
and 4 and 2nd John rather, not 3rd John. But here's where the
term anti... Now Paul speaks of it, and John
speaks of it, the whole scripture speaks of it, Daniel speaks of
it, Revelation speaks of it. But this is the term. And look
at verse 18 of 1 John 2. He says, little children, it
is the last time. Now remember the last time, the
last days. That's the days between Christ's
first coming and His second coming. As you have heard that antichrist
shall come. And I believe that what he's
referring back there is to what the Lord taught in Matthew 24
and is recorded in Mark 13 about those who say, here's Christ,
there's Christ, you know, a false Christ. He says that antichrist
shall come, even now are there many antichrists whereby we know
that it is the last time. Now look at verse 19. They went
out from us, but they were not of us. They went out from the
people of God. They departed from the faith.
For if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued
with us. If they were truly saved, they wouldn't have left. That
puts the death now to this notion that you can be saved one day
and lost the next. Those who claim to be saved one
day and then leave the gospel, leave Christ, leave the church,
they never were saved to begin with. If they had been, they
would have continued with us, John says, but they went out
that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
The man of sin revealed. Now that spirit was even there
in John's day. Not to the degree that is in
our day, but it was there. Now look at 2 John. Turn to the
next chapter, 2 John, and look at verse 7. Listen to this. He says, "...for many
deceivers are entered into the world who confess not that Jesus
Christ has come into the flesh." They deny His humanity and His
atoning work. That's what they denied. See,
the reason He was made flesh was to save His people from their
sins. to die for the sins of his sheep,
to establish righteousness. So to deny that he's come in
the flesh is to deny the gospel, is to deny his saving work on
Calvary to save his people. And so he says, this is a deceiver
and an antichrist. Look to yourselves that we lose
not the things which we have wrought, but that we receive
a full reward." That's eternal glory in heaven. He says in verse
9, "...whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine
of Christ hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine
of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son." Now that's the
spirit of Antichrist. It's prevalent today. How do you recognize that spirit? Well, my friend, I'm going to
show you some scripture next Sunday on that. But let me just put
it to you this way. I've been saying it all through
this message. That wherever men and women in
the name of Christ begin to introduce the self-righteous works system
of salvation and religion to any degree, at any stage, at
any time, that's the spirit of Antichrist. What's the remedy? Well, the remedy is looking to
Him alone. Let him have no rival, no confusion,
no deny. Look to Christ and Him alone
for all of salvation, now and forever. He is my only hope,
as I said in that hymn. Our hope is built on nothing
less than His blood and righteousness. And everything else is sinking
sand, isn't it?