Open your Bibles with me to 2
Thessalonians 2. 2 Thessalonians 2. The title of the message is Good
Hope Through Grace. Good Hope Through Grace. I know that you'll agree with
me that to say that we are living in trying times is an understatement. And we
can see that all around us. We can see it politically. We
can see it economically. We can see it socially. It's
there. But here's the thing that we
need to be concerned with more than anything else as we read
through this passage of scripture concerning the second coming
of Christ. is that we're living in trying
times religiously. That is, that which is spoken
of here, the man of sin, the spirit of antichrist, the mystery
of iniquity, the deceivableness of unrighteousness is already
working in our world. And with all of this going on,
we see so much religion, but very, very little truth. I don't
say that joyfully, yet I know that this is God's plan. You
know, preachers today, they tell people, God has a wonderful plan
for your life. Well, I do know he has a wonderful
plan for his children. I can't look at an audience and
just indiscriminately say God has a wonderful plan for your
life. Here in 2 Thessalonians 2, he talks about people being
deceived. Satan, having been loose, we'll
talk about that in just a moment, having been loose to deceive
the nations, just like he did before the new covenant began. He said he's going to come with
all deceivableness of unrighteousness. Look at that at verse 10. Well
even verse nine, coming is after the working of Satan with all
power, signs, and lying wonders. With all deceivableness of unrighteousness
in them that perish because they receive not the love of the truth
that they might be saved. And my thoughts in going through
this last section of 2 Thessalonians 2 is that if there ever is a
time, ever was a time that we as the children of God need the
assurance of God's grace, it's now. I want to know that I'm
telling you the truth. I don't want to be swaying back
and forth on that issue, and you want to know that you're
hearing the truth. And that's why I urge you, I
talked about this last time, to test the spirits. I think
one of the most tragic situations that has come about, even in
what we call the sovereign grace movement, is that people just
don't test what they're hearing. They just swallow hook, line,
and sinker, Don't even imagine that they have to be what we
call the noble Bereans to search the scriptures to see if these
things are true. Here he speaks of this. Look
at verse 11. He said, they receive not the
love of the truth and for this cause God, now listen to this,
God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie.
Now God is not a liar. And he doesn't lie to anyone.
He's nothing but truth. The Bible says, let God be true
and every man a liar. God is faithful. But what he's
talking about here is a judgment upon those who receive not the
love of the truth, a judgment from God, whereby these false
preachers are let go to share their lies. that people should believe a
lie, it's a judgment. And for this cause, he said,
what cause? Because they receive not the
love of the truth that they might be saved. And this is what I'm
saying, I wanna know the truth. I don't wanna be lied to. You
wanna know the truth. You don't wanna be lied to. As
I said, he spoke of the man of sin. That's the man of lawlessness,
many translations say, and that's okay. That wicked one to be revealed. Ultimately, this is Satan, but
it can describe any preacher or any preaching that does not
point us only to Christ for all righteousness. Romans 10, verse
four says, Christ is the end of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believes. He is the Lord our righteousness.
The gospel is the revelation of the righteousness of God.
And any preaching that doesn't point you to Him and Him alone,
as our whole salvation, is inspired by the man of sin,
the man of lawlessness. That wicked one. He spoke of
the mystery of iniquity. Already at work in Paul's day,
John's day, but was restrained by the Holy Spirit who by the
apostles and the evangelists spread the gospel throughout
the Gentile world. This mystery of iniquity is an
iniquity that deceives the natural man. And we could go through
the scriptures and prove this without doubt. I'll remind you
of the false preachers of Matthew chapter seven. Lord, haven't
we preached in your name? Lord, haven't we cast out demons? Lord, haven't we done many wonderful
works? Now to the natural man, that
doesn't look like iniquity. But the Lord Jesus Christ, who
is the judge of all, said, depart from me, I never knew you, you
that work iniquity. And it's useless for preachers
to sit around and speculate and say, well, they just weren't
sincere enough. Do you know if that were the
case, that would scare me to death? Because it would immediately
cause me to think of myself, am I sincere enough? And then
that would cause me to think of this, how sincere do we have
to be? What is God's measure of sincerity? to which I could see it and say,
well, I come up to snuff. You couldn't do that. You see,
righteousness, holiness, is not measured on a sliding scale.
It's all measured by Christ. Now, I'm gonna tell you something
about Christ. In his work as our Redeemer,
he was perfectly, 100%, without any flaw, sincere. Is that the measure of sincerity?
Well, who among us would say I'm equal to that? I hope you
wouldn't say that. I believe I am sincere, but my
sincerity is not my righteousness. You understand that? You can think about those in
Galatians chapter one who preached another gospel. And then I think
about this verse, Luke 16, 15. When Christ said, you are they
which justify yourselves before men, but that which is esteemed
among men is an abomination to God. This mystery of iniquity, I'll
tell you what it takes. It takes the gospel light empowered
by the Holy Spirit to expose it. That's right. that exposes darkness. The light
that men and women by nature hate because it exposes their
assurances, their hopes, their ways of salvation as being evil. Because if it doesn't measure
up to the righteousness of Christ that's freely imputed to his
people and which we receive by God-given faith, it's iniquity. Now he says in this passage that
there is a time when the Holy Spirit would be taken out of
the way in his restraining hand against Satan and his minions. Now the Holy Spirit will always
be on earth in his people, in the people of God. He will always
be working in bringing the sheep into the fold until the last
one of God's sheep is in the fold. But he will be taken out
of the way as far as his restraining against Satan who's been bound.
Look over at Revelation 20. Now I'm not going to go into
all the intricacies of the symbolism of Revelation here, but I want
you to see this. Satan's working. Now I believe
that Satan has already been loosed to deceive the nations. The reason
I believe that, not only because God's word says it's going to
happen before Christ comes again, but the reason I believe that
he's been loosed is because there are so many false religionists
who call themselves Christian worldwide that know not the truth. Christian in name only. And that's
one of the things that the Lord said was going to happen. He
said they'll come preaching false Christ, false Jesuses, false
ways of salvation, and they'll claim to be servants of God,
they'll claim to believe salvation by grace. That spirit was already
happening in Paul's day and John's day, but think about how it's
blossomed, exploded in our day. There are people listening to
us right now. by live stream, who in their area cannot find
a church where the gospel is preached without compromise,
clearly and consistently. Now that may not mean there is
not one, but they just haven't found it yet. But they're hard
to find. The truth is hard to find. And boy, how we ought to cherish
it when we do find it. when God brings it to us and
especially reveals it to us. But look here, Revelation 20
verse 1. He says, I saw an angel come
down from heaven 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. He laid hold of him and
Satan and bound him 1,000 years. Now 1,000 years is not a literal
calendar number. It's just a period of time. It's
a Hebrew idiom that describes a span of time that only God
knows the exact number. And a lot of times what it refers
to is the time period of the new covenant. In other words,
a thousand years. You say, well, that's been a
little over 2,000 years since Christ died. Yes, but that's
a thousand is an emblem for that period of time. And I've used
the example of a man and a woman who's in love. The man looks
at the woman and he said, I'll love you for a thousand years.
And well, does she take that as a literal thousand? What's
she going to do? Say, well, what about the year after a thousand?
You're not going to love me then? You know, that kind of thing.
It's a way of speaking. So he's bound for a thousand
years, a period of time. And then it says, and he was
cast into the bottomless pit. and shut up and set a seal upon
him that he should deceive the nations no more. No more. Now what do you mean no more?
Well, in the Old Testament, Satan was loosed and free to roam upon
earth through himself and his minions to deceive the nations.
That's why you see so few Gentiles coming to Christ. And he says,
till the thousand years should be fulfilled, and after that,
he must be loose for a little season. Now, when was he shut
up? When was he sealed? When Christ died on the cross.
John 12. Remember, he said, now is the
prince of this world cast out. Speaking of the death, which
he should die. But look over in verse 7 now, of chapter 20
of Revelation. He says, and when the thousand
years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison.
Now that's the time period that Paul's talking about in 2 Thessalonians
2, when the Holy Spirit that restrains him will be removed
so that he can be loosed again. And shall go out, verse eight,
shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners
of the earth, Gog and Magog. Now that term Gog and Magog,
I know some of these dispensationalists, they'll say, well, that's Russia
and China and this, that. It's any nation, any group of
people that comes against the church, the true church. Gog
and Magog were described in the book of Ezekiel as the Gentile
nations which stood against Israel. So Gog and Magog are emblematic
of any nation, any group of people that comes against Christ, that
stands against the church. That's what it is. And it says,
to gather them together to battle the number of whom is the sand
of the sea. Now go back to 2 Thessalonians
2. Now how is this deception, how is
this attained? Well, he says it's attained with
all power and signs and lying wonders, verse 9. I'll read this
to you. This is Matthew 24, 24. Now,
Matthew 24 is a parallel scripture with Mark 13, which we went through.
But Matthew 24, here's what Christ said in the last days. Now, I
know some say, well, that's just talking about up to the destruction
of Jerusalem. Well, it was there then, but
it's here now. And here's what he said, for
there shall arise false Christ. Now we can look at a lot of different
false religions, and we know they're false, because they're
the general way of man by nature, salvation conditioned on the
sinner in some way at some stage. And they do measure righteousness
and holiness on a sliding scale. But they're not necessarily false
Christs unless you say they're false saviors. For example, Muhammad
is not a false Christ, he's just a false preacher. A false savior,
if you will, Buddha, and all of that. But he says in the last
days, there will arise false Christs and false prophets. Back up to verse 23, he said
they'll say here's Christ, come to Christ, all right? But in verse 24, he says, they
shall show great signs and wonders in so much that if it were possible,
they shall deceive the very elect. Think about that. These signs and lying wonders,
what are they? Well, they're things that are
impressive to man by nature, but they're opposed to God's
word. All deceivableness of unrighteousness
in them that perish. A lie that is a deception. And it's in some way a message
that does not measure up to the righteousness of Christ, which
he alone accomplished, which God has imputed to his people,
and which they all receive by God-given faith. It's gonna fall
short. That's what sin is. Comes short
of the glory of God. And who will ultimately fall
prey to this deception? He says in verse 10, they that
receive not the love of the truth that they might be saved. I mentioned
this last week. It's one thing to claim to believe
the truth, it's another thing to love it. And it's easy for
us as believers, true believers, to ask ourselves, do we love
it enough? Well, what is enough? When God brings us to faith in
Christ, He brings us to repentance. I know people who claim to believe
in Christ, but they want to hold on to the past. They want to
hold on to the dung heap of false religion. They've never been
brought to repentance. Those who do not persevere in
the faith, those who compromise the faith, they don't love the
truth. We love it, and by God's grace we love it, and by God's
grace we live by it. living our lives, looking to
Christ as the author and finisher of our faith. I've got no other
hope, how about you? I've got no other hope. And I
know this, if my friends and my family do not hope in this
good, good hope through grace, they're lost. I pray that they're
one of God's lost sheep. I pray that I get an opportunity
to tell them the truth. I pray that they come to believe
it and love it. Don't you? But I can't compromise for them.
I know this, left to ourselves, none of us would receive and
love the truth, would we? Remember in the natural man,
receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, neither can he
know them. They're spiritually discerned. Wasn't saying Romans
3, 10 through 12, there's none righteous, none good, none that
seek the Lord. That's us by nature. And to think
about this. If we know and love this truth,
if we know and love Christ, and the only way you know you love
Christ is to know and love his truth. You can't know and love
Christ and then hate his truth. Can you? The Bible says otherwise. If I know and love the truth,
know and love Christ, and know and love His people, I am so blessed of God. Do we really know how blessed
we are? Think about what Christ told
the disciples. Let me read this to you. This is Matthew 13. And
here he's talking to the parables of the kingdom. And they ask
him, why are you speaking parables? And the Lord said in Matthew
13 beginning at verse 15, He says, well, this people's heart
is waxed gross. Now what that means in our modern
vernacular is their heart has grown hard. And their ears are dull of hearing,
and their eyes they have closed. lest at any time they should
see with their eyes and hear with their ears and should understand
with their heart and should be what? Converted. And I should
heal them. What is it to be converted? Paul
describes it in Philippians chapter three. It's to see Christ in
the glory of his person and the power of his finished work to
redeem his people from their sins, knowing him to be the only
way of salvation, the only hope of eternal life, and turning
away from all else in religion. You say, well, I had a big, glorious
experience, but it wasn't under the truth. Well, let me tell
you about that glorious experience under the truth. It falls under
the heading of the mystery of iniquity, signs and lying wonders. That's right. Because if any
experience you have, or any experience I have, if it doesn't leave me
bare as a sinner who deserves nothing but death and hell, and
leave me to see the only way of salvation in Christ the Lord
my righteousness, it's a lie. It's a deception. But you know what Christ told
his disciples? In that Matthew 13 passage, verse 16, he said,
but blessed are your eyes, for they see. And blessed are your
ears, for they hear. That is not something we brag
about. It's something that humbles us. But hearing that, If you were
here today and you're an unbeliever, hearing that, what Christ said
there ought to motivate us to seek the truth in Christ. Who loves the truth and who does
not? He who loves the truth searches
the scripture to find the truth about Christ and his redeeming
word. I want to know. I'm trusting Christ. In our world today, there are
a lot of false Christs. Am I trusting the true one? How
am I going to know? I've been writing on some things
concerning the question that Christ asked the Pharisees, who
were supposed to be the masters of the word. He said, what think
ye of Christ? Whose son is he? They said, he's
David's son. You know, they were right. So
Christ went on to ask him, he said, well, how can he be David's
son and David's God? They didn't know. Do you know
the answer to that? If you know it truly, blessed
are your eyes, blessed are your ears. I know how he's David's
God and David's son. David's God, that speaks of his
deity. David's son speaks of his humanity. Who is Jesus Christ? He's God, manifest in the flesh. But is that all there is to it?
No, there's more to it. You say, preacher, you're just
complicating it. Well, I'm just talking about the word of God.
I mean, I didn't devise all of this. I didn't write this word.
You know, I didn't write this book. I'm just telling you what it
says. What did he accomplish when he died for our sins? Did
he fail? Not the Christ of this book.
The Christ of this book did not fail to save one person for whom
he died and arose. The Christ of this book, he shall
prevail. He shall prosper. He shall see
his seed and be satisfied. That's the Christ of this book.
He is the Lord our righteousness. So he who loves the truth turns
to Christ, pleads his blood and his righteousness and forsakes
all else in repentance. He who loves the truth abides
in the truth by God's power and by God's grace. You can't ignore
it. You can't deny it. You can't
leave it. He who loves the truth judges
all things by that truth. Whatever happens to you in religion,
the value of it has to be judged by this truth. And if you won't judge it by
that truth, you don't love it. And it says here that those who
continually reject it and don't love it, that God sends them
strong delusion that they should believe a lie. Do you know what
that is? That's the judgment of God against all who do not
believe and love the truth. They believe the lie. Look at
verse 11 of 2 Thessalonians 2. And for this cause God shall
send them strong delusion that they should believe. And it says
a lie in your King James Version. The real interpretation, the
original is the lie. Be live. What is the lie? That salvation is conditioned
on you, on sinners. That man has a free will to do
good and to do evil. The Bible says otherwise. To
choose Christ or not to choose Christ. That lie has been around
since Cain. But in the last days, that lie
will be cloaked in what is described in verse nine. All power and
signs and lying wonders. Today's signs and wonders are
in no way a sign of truth and salvation. It's the kind of lie that causes
people to judge the truth, not by God's word, but by another
lie. Strong delusions, it says. Now think about what the, you
know that word strong delusions, it means energy. Talking about
religious energy. How much religious energy do
you see today? But no truth. Strong delusions. You know what one of the biggest
delusions is? Large crowds. Now, oh, you're just saying that
because you've got a little congregation. Okay. What does the Bible say? Broad is the gate. Broad is the
road. Many there be that go in there
at. Straight is the gate and there's
the way. Few there be that find it. And I admit to you, I'd love
to see 1,000 people here today. Of course, we wouldn't be able
to sit them. But I'd love to see big crowds. I think about
the Apostle Peter. He saw a big crowd, didn't he,
at Pentecost. But I also know Stephen saw a
big crowd, too, and he got stoned. Emotional experiences, that's
part of the strong delusions. People have emotional religious
experiences and they say, oh, it's so real. Well, I'm sure it was real, a
real delusion. Dreams, visions. pretended healings,
so-called heavenly languages. I heard a guy say this, trying
to teach people to what he called talk in tongues. He said, start
out talking them to talk baby talk, like a baby talks, and
then it will develop into a heavenly language. Now, have you ever
heard such junk in your life? God's righteous judgment against
those who receive not the truth. Now here's the point. We know
that if it weren't for the grace of God, none of us would receive
the truth. And I know people say, that's
not fair. And the answer the Bible gives
is found in the book of Romans chapter 9. We won't go there
this morning. But here's what I would say to people. My go-to
verse in that situation is Deuteronomy 29, 29. The secret things belong
unto the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong
to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words
of the law. Seek the Lord. Don't assume, sitting in the
pew, that you're hearing the truth. Seek His truth. Go to His Word. Well, what is the good hope through
grace then? Well, look at verse 13. Listen
to this. 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. That's the doctrine of election.
If you're a believer, God chose you. For salvation. From the beginning. Before the
foundation of the world. How do you know He chose me?
Through sanctification of the Spirit. That's the Holy Spirit
setting us apart under the truth. And belief of the truth. What
truth? A specific truth. Verse 14, where
unto he called you by our gospel. What is the gospel? It's the
power of God and the salvation. To everyone that believeth, the
Jew first, the Greek also, for therein is the righteousness
of God revealed. What is the righteousness of
God? I need to know that. That's why I wrote that book
on what is the righteousness of God. from faith, from knowledge
revealed to faith, knowledge received and believed, for it
is written, the just shall live by faith. So where unto? He called you by our gospel to
the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. That which
will, if God does it, will carry us through all the way unto glory. How many people that you know
are sitting in a church today believing that they can gain
salvation by their decision and then they can lose it by sinning.
That's not the gospel. If that's their hope, it's a
bad hope. Well, look what he says. Therefore,
verse 15, brethren, stand fast, stand firm. We know the only
way that we'll stand firm is by the grace and power of God.
And hold the traditions which you've been taught. Now, these
traditions are not the traditions of men, not the traditions of
different denominations. They're the word of God that
was given through the prophets and the apostles, the gospel,
which you've been taught, whether by word or our epistle, our letter,
Verse 16, Now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God even
our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting
consolation, comfort, assurance, and good hope, expectation, through
grace, that same grace that reigns through righteousness unto eternal
life, by Jesus Christ our Lord. How does the grace you profess
reign? Does it reign through your decision?
Does it reign through your baptism? Does it reign through your good
works? That's not grace. That's a cleverly disguised system
of work. The good hope through grace reigns
through Christ and his righteousness alone. And he says, by that,
verse 17, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good
word and work. We're living in hard times. We
need that good hope that comes through grace. And I'm gonna
talk about that Lord willing a little bit more next week because
it is so important in our lives. All right.