If you would, turn with me to
2 Thessalonians chapter 2. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. And starting in verse 1 of 2
Thessalonians chapter 2. Now we beseech you, brethren,
by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering
together unto him, that ye 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. Let no man deceive
you by any means, for that day shall not come, except there
come a falling away first, and that man of sin 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.
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 will let,
until he be taken out of the way. 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. And for
this cause, God shall send them strong delusion that they should
believe a lie, that they all might be damned who believe not
the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. Just reading that makes me want
to know the king. What I want is the king to know
me, really. But what do we read in verse
11? Because this is really where I wanted to get to. And for this
cause, God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe
a lie. First of all, who is it that
is the acting one in this verse? God. And who is going to stay
his hand and say unto him, what doest thou? Christ. Just how are you going to go
about doing something like that? This here tells us that God will
send them strong This is something that's done that the one having
this action taking on them, they cannot resist. They cannot thwart. It is a strong action and it
is said to be done by God. God will send them strong what?
Delusion, error or wrong opinion, heresy. The result of this will
be that they will believe the lie is the way to actually say
it. As others have said, there is
no, I think it's a definite article A in the Greek. So the word is
the instead of a. But let's also be clear, this
is not something that is new to them. And I mean this lie,
it's not new to them. It's just made strong by God. And I say that because it says
in the prior verse that these did not receive the love of the
truth. They already loved the lie rather
than the truth. Not more than, but rather than
the truth. But it is God that it says who
will send, and that means to conduct orderly. He will do this
in an orderly fashion and it will definitely be done in righteousness,
Joe. I can hear those who hate God,
the one that they should believe and love His truth say this,
are you saying God causes them to be delusions? Yes, that's
what I'm saying. But I purposely skipped the first
part of the verse. God does not do things just to
be mean. What does the beginning of the
verse say? For this cause. So in order to know what the
cause is for God to do this, we can read just prior to that
to find out. This is what will cause God to
send you strong delusions that you will believe a lie or they
will believe the lie. and with all deceivableness of
unrighteousness in them that perish, because they receive
not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. He will, with those who do not
receive the love of the truth, cause them to be delusioned,
and they will no doubt believe the lie. Yet there are some who do receive
the love of the truth. to the praise and honor of his
name, Joe. This world gets mad because we
teach the scripture and we learn from the scripture that God chooses
us and saves us by his power and work alone. They get mad
and will not bow down to him, as Joe's already told us, and
ask for mercy. They are defiant and will not
receive the love of the truth. So is that God's fault? Absolutely
not. All men and women have to do
is believe God, bow down and believe God. Yet so many will
shake their fist in God's face and will not bow down to Him.
Now they don't look at it as they're shaking their fist at,
but that's what they're doing. But there are a few who do. They
bow down to God and receive the love of the truth. They do this
by His mighty power and because of His work. We love Him because
He first loved us. That's what's told us in Scripture
that's called grace. God did not have to do this,
but it pleased Him to do this for Jesus Christ the Son. He
chose a people in His Son because of what the Son would do and
has done. Is God to be blamed for showing
mercy? Mercy undeserved and unmerited? Again, I will say to anyone,
just bow down to the sovereign God who has chosen and believed
the record God gave of his son. If you believe, you will be saved. But we know we cannot. But that
gets us to what this is saying here. Because of their hard heartedness,
God will send them strong delusion that they should believe the
lie. So if you want to play games
with a sovereign God, go ahead. Don't bow down to his son or
believe his record. He will make sure you are delusioned. And that may not be a word, but
it is now, delusioned. So let's talk about today the
lie, the truth, and God. So first, the lie. So what is
the lie? And as I've said, that word a
there is supposed, it should be the, it means the, the lie. So turn with me to Genesis three,
very familiar. We're gonna look at it one more
time. Genesis three. Genesis 3, I want to read verses
1 through 5. Now the serpent was more subtle
than any beast of the field, which the Lord God had made.
And he said unto the woman, yea, hath God said, ye shall not eat
of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent,
We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the
fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God
hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it,
lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the
woman, Ye shall not surely die. For God doth know that in the
day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye
shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. We see the lie right here. Satan
or that serpent who is the father of lies says this, and this is
from the Young's Little Translation. Is it true that God hath said,
you do not eat of every tree of the garden? He said, yea,
hath God said? Satan here is not saying that
God did not say this. What he is saying is that what
God said is not true. He is telling Eve that God is
lying to them. That's what he's saying. We see
it, and I like to use Young's literal translation in some of
these, because it just puts it a little bit different way. But
after Eve told the serpent what God had said, that they could
eat of every tree except this one, and that when they eat of
this one, they would die, what does the father of lies say?
And the serpent saith unto the woman, dying ye do not die. God is lying to you. What God
has said is not true. What does the serpent say to
Eve even further? We are still on the lie here.
For God does know that in the day of your eating of it, your
eyes have been opened, and ye have been as God, knowing good
and evil. Notice how it says it, in the
day of your eating of it. That was in Young's literal translation.
This is said as if it has already taken place. Satan knew this
was going to happen. But he begals Eve and says, when
you eat of this fruit, you won't need God anymore. You'll be equal
with God. I know there have been several
of us here, and I'm sure there have been other believers out
there as well that have experienced this. But there are some who, when
telling someone exactly what God has said, and we do that
by reading the scripture and telling them exactly what the
scriptures say, and they say, I don't believe that. Or they might say, it doesn't
mean what it says. That's exactly what Satan tells
Eve here. God said those very words, but
God did not mean what he said is what Satan is saying. God
is trying to deceive you. He is trying to manipulate you.
Because what will really happen when you eat of this fruit, you
will become like God himself. People today, and I'm still on
the lie of free will, but people today believe that they have
the power and the right to choose God. From the beginning, Satan
has pushed the lie from his lips that tells man, you will be like
God. You can make the right choices
because you will know good and evil. With this lie being told
her, she liked what she saw and heard because she said in verse
six, And verse six, three, and when
the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was
pleasant to the eyes and a tree to be desired to make one wise,
she took of the fruit thereof and did eat and gave also unto
her husband with her and he did eat. So it says, and the tree
is desirable to make one wise. She fell for it, as they say,
hook, line, and sinker. But then her head, Adam, was
not deceived. He partook of the fruit knowing
what he was doing. Pure rebellion. Man by nature
does not want to hear what God says. Man by nature does not
want to do what God says. Man by nature wants to be their
own God. This is the truth. That is how
man is. But man will openly rebel against
the very truth of God. So what is the truth as it concerns
God and what he has said? So next we have the truth. There are many people in this
world who will look to the Bible. They will look to see what God
says in his Bible. But they will not believe what
God says. Why? Because of their federal head,
Adam, he openly and manifestly rebelled against his maker, who
is God. God created Adam. We, because
of what Adam did, are brought forth from the womb, speaking
lies. When it comes to God and man
towards God, there is no innocence. Romans 5.12, we read, wherefore,
as by one man, and that one man was Adam. Wherefore, as by one
man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death
passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. You and I were
not even born yet, but we are told right here that we have
all sinned. Is God lying to us? Because of
sin which bringeth forth death, Adam died. He was still walking
around in the garden, so how did he die? His spirit, which
at one time was able to commune with God, now can no longer commune
with him because man's spirit is dead. Everyone from that point
on is born physically into this world with the same exact way,
spiritually dead. God did not experiment to see
what man would do. All the creation was not an experiment. Everything God did was on purpose. I don't care if man does not
like it. I don't care if man does not believe it, even myself.
God does everything on purpose. God knew that man was a creature
because he created him. and that he would rebel against
him. He knew it. It seems obvious, doesn't it?
But men and women behave as if we do things alongside of God. But there was a purpose in what
God was doing. He was going to make it so that
man could eternally, perpetually, Joe, commune with him. In order
to do this, the sin that man is and does would have to be
atoned for. So what was his purpose? His
purpose was to do what man could not do himself, being spiritually
dead. But man had to pay for what he
did because everything brings forth of its own kind. God never
goes against what he has declared. What do we read in scripture
about the truth? John 1 14, and the word was made
flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory, the glory
as of the only begotten of the father, full of grace and truth. That one whose voice was heard
in the garden, the one who was walking in the garden in the
cool of the day, the one who created heaven and earth and
all things that are in it, This same one was made flesh. The same one who said you can
eat of all of the fruit of the garden except for that one tree.
That same one who told Adam that when you eat of it, you will
die. This same one was made flesh. God became a man. He had to become
a man because it had to be a man that would pay for Adam's sin.
That is the truth. But what do we see further in
scripture as to what the truth is? John 14, six says, Jesus
saith unto him, I am the way, the truth and the life. No man
cometh unto the father, but by me. We are not God, but there
is a man who is God. This one who God the Father sent
is the one who by the purpose of God was sent to be the savior
of his people. God himself came down. God is
just and God in his all powerful wise design did it this way because
God knew in his wisdom that this is the only way that justice
could be satisfied while mercy is given to a rebellious people.
God, the creator of everything, the one who has rebelled against
and sinned against, is the very one who came down, this God came
down to save those which were lost. So what is the truth? John 8, 32. And ye shall know
the truth, and the truth shall make you free. So is the truth
what you know? We just read Jesus Christ is
the truth. So who is Jesus Christ? So that
leads me to God. And I know I've already went
over this, but I'm gonna say it again. God came down and he
was manifest in the person of Jesus Christ the Lord. God has
been pleased to manifest himself in three persons. God the Father,
God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. And the scripture says
these three are one. But when I'm talking about God
here specifically, I'm talking about the one with whom we have
to do. God the Father tells us, and
we read it in his word, this is my beloved son, hear ye him. So if we are to hear God, if
we are to see God, if we are to serve God, it will be because
of Jesus Christ. We will not see God other than
in the face of Jesus Christ. When it comes to the truth, Jesus
Christ is all. I mean that Jesus Christ is all
the truth. If what you are saying from God's
word exalts man in any way, or if what you're saying from God's
word makes Jesus Christ weak in some way or less in some way,
then you are not preaching the truth. What have we already read? He is the life. He's the only
way you will ever have life before God. He is the truth. Knowing him is the only way to
know God. He is the way. Christ is the
only way that those who have been given life by him and those
who know him will ever find their way to God. Any other way is total destruction. Jesus Christ, who is God, is
the one that said, in the day ye eat thereof, ye shall surely
die. He is the one whose voice was
heard as he walked in the garden in the cool of the day, as I
said. He is and was from the beginning, and it is he who purposed
all things in himself to bring a people's salvation to his honor
and glory. So let's go back through a little
bit more of our text in closing. It has been said, and rightfully
so, this world is not getting worse. By the word, I mean those
who do not love Christ. It does say men will wax worse
and worse, as Joe said, and that's true. But I think you'll see
what I'm talking about here in a minute. They are not getting
worse. They are as bad as they can be
and cannot get any worse than what they are. We by nature are
as bad as we can be, but thank the sovereign God above. He made
us meet. He enabled us to receive the
love of the truth. That is his people, his chosen
people. But with those things going on
around us, I mean, it seems as if people have lost their mind. But when you think about it,
they really have, and it did not start out yesterday. It was
like this from the beginning. We read that about Nebuchadnezzar.
He said, when my understanding returned to me, this tells me
that before this happened, Nebuchadnezzar was insane. But the things that
are going on today makes it seem as if things are getting worse.
But the fact of the matter is, it is just that we see it more
and more, and we see it sooner and faster than we ever did before. Man has always done these things,
and we see man, those things that we see man do today, We
can read in God's words specific accounts of things that happened
even before Christ condescended to this earth. God tells us in
his word in Genesis 6-5, And God saw the wickedness of man,
which was great in the earth, and that every imagination of
the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Folks, this is what God saw just
before God killed everyone and everything that was living on
the earth, save eight souls and the animals that were on the
ark. Man has not changed in this flesh. The flesh is as corrupt
as it ever was, and that will not change. Unless God does something
for a man or a woman, they will hate God, and they will want
to ascend to his throne to kill God. I know they will not say
this, but this is what their flesh wants because they want
to be in control. But they are not. God is absolutely
sovereign and in total sovereign control. They will not accomplish
this. I know men and women think when
I say things like that that I'm talking about those who are really
bad. No, I'm talking about those who are subtle, just as their
father Satan was subtle. I'm talking about religious people,
moral people. They will say to you, yea, hath
God said? As we read right here in 2 Thessalonians
2 7, for the mystery of iniquity doth already work. It is working
in those who lift up man's free will. Those who lift up man's
choice rather than God's choice. Those who lift up man's works
rather than lifting up the work of Christ. It says they will
not receive the love of the truth. They will not receive Christ. Man is delusional by nature.
Just as God did with Pharaoh, he will do with all those who
do not receive the love of the truth. Pharaoh, it says, if you
read it, he hardened his heart, and then he hardened his heart
again, and then he hardened his heart again, over and over again,
until finally, it says, God hardened Pharaoh's heart. God does not
do anything to men and women that they do not do themselves
or that they do not want themselves. But just as everything else that
God does, when he does something, it is done. Pharaoh hardened
his own heart, but then he would relinquish for a time. It went
back and forth until that time God was pleased to act. It's
as if God said, enough is enough. I will harden Pharaoh's heart,
God said, and when God does something, as I said, it is done. There
is no relinquishing. As has been said here before
by several of us, when God opens, no man shuts. When God shuts,
no man opens. What God does is sure and it
is fast, meaning it sticks. So what does all this make me
say? What does it cause me to pray?
I pray God give me the love of the truth, the love of Christ
so that I might be found in him. And as it says in the first verse
where it talks about, in verse one, our gathering together with
him, and that's in his kingdom, because as Joe pointed out, he
is the king of his kingdom. If you are not one of those who
will be gathered together unto him, then you will be sent strong
delusions that you will believe the lie. When God does that,
it will be too late. I pray God he turn me and you
to himself. And all I can tell anybody else
who doesn't know this is all I can tell you to do is cry out
to him if you feel this way. He has said that all that call
on his name shall be saved. Lay down your arms against God
and take sides with God against yourself. We'll save you, amen. Dear Lord God, thank you for
allowing us to be here once again, dear Lord. Be with us as we go
out and about, dear Lord, and guide our steps, because we cannot
do it on our own. Apply these words to our heart,
dear Lord. All these things we ask in Christ's name, amen.