Bibles to 1st John, if you would. The name of the message is Antichrist.
Antichrist. 1st John, chapter 2. We'll read verses 15 to 20. Love not the world, neither the
things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the
love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world,
the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride
of life is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the
world passes away in the lust thereof, but he that doeth the
will of God abideth forever. And next, we see a warning concerning
Antichrist. And these next three verses will
be our text tonight. I think we're only going to get
through verse 1. I planned on getting through all three, but
I think we're just going to be getting through verse 18. Little
children, it is the last time, and as you have heard, that Antichrist
shall come, even now there are many Antichrists, whereby we
know that it is the last time. 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 all of us. But ye, and remember who John's
writing to, he's writing to born-again, blood-washed believers. But ye
have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. Now, two weeks ago, we looked
at verses 15 to 17 in this chapter, and we saw that the believer
in Christ is instructed to not love the world or the things
of the world. And if one loves the world, then
the love of the Father is not in them. And we saw how John,
by inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God, brought forth all the
things of this world by identifying them under three different headings
before us in a text. First was less the flesh or the
body. which covers all carnal, sensual
desires, unchaste thoughts, luxurious and wasteful living, indulgence
of our fleshy appetites toward materialism and self-satisfaction. And then he brought forth the
lust of the eyes, which is seeking after unlawful or unspiritual
objects, covetous after gold, silver, land, and the possession
of visible things. And then he brought forth the
pride of life, which covers ambition, honor, worldly fame, the chief
places in the world, the chief places in the world, which is
what we looked at last week, or two weeks ago, we saw that
that's what the Pharisees are after. They're after the recognition
of people. They're after recognition of
people. It also covers those that seek to seek the honor and
praise of men. Well, we know God's preachers
We preach and proclaim the gospel, not for the honor of man and
the praise of man, but for the glory of God, for the glory of
God. And so those things which John
brings forth here are not of the Father, but of the world.
And we know, we know, in verse 17, look at verse 17, we also
looked at how all the things of the world will perish one
day. Everything we look at is temporary. Everything we look
at is temporary. Look at verse 17, and the world
passes away in the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of
God abideth forever. Now, think of this. The things
of this world are going to perish. But God's eternal. God's eternal. He is the same yesterday, today,
and forever, the scriptures declare. They declare that. This world
will pass away and everything in it But our God will still
be God. He'll still be on the throne,
just like He is right now. Just like He was when He spoke
this whole world and all the stars and everything into existence.
He's on the throne then, and He'll never abdicate His throne,
beloved. And that's our Savior. Our Savior is God incarnate in
the flesh, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now when we read the scriptures
or hear a message preached, we should be interested in four
things as believers in Christ. Four things that we should be
interested in. Number one, who's speaking? Who's speaking in the text? Who's
speaking in the text? Who's speaking to us? Is it Christ
speaking to us? Or is it John? Or is it Peter? Or is it one of the apostles?
Or is it a prophet in the Old Testament? Who's speaking? That's
the first thing we should be interested in. The second thing
we should be interested in is to whom are they speaking? To
whom are they speaking? Are they speaking to believers?
Who are they speaking to? Then, the third thing we should
be interested in is what's the subject the speaker is speaking
on to those he's speaking to? What's the subject the speaker
is speaking on to those they are speaking to? And then the
fourth thing is how does that apply to me? How does that apply
to me as a believer in Christ? How does it apply to me? That
subject which the speaker is speaking on, those are four things
that we should be interested in as believers in Christ when
either we're reading the scripture or hearing it or hearing the
gospel preached. Those are four things for us
to take note of. Now we know the author of all
the scriptures is the Holy Spirit of God, we know that. He's the
author of all the scriptures. So with that in mind, let's read
our text again in verses 18 to 20. Little children, it is the
last time, as ye have heard, that an Antichrist shall come.
Even now are there many Antichrists, whereby we know that it is the
last time. 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 all of us.
But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. Now we see the words here before
us, we see in verse 18, the word Antichrist and Antichrist. This
epistle and the second epistle of John are the only place where
this Greek word is found. It's the only place where this
Greek word is found. And do you know that the same
Greek word for Antichrist is used for Antichrist? It's
the same word. It's the same word. We'd think
it was a different word, wouldn't we? But it's the same Greek word. The same Greek word. The definition
of this word in Greek and Strong's is an opponent of the Messiah.
an opponent of the Messiah and fires. It's the adversary of
the Messiah. The opponent and adversary of
the Messiah is what this Greek word means. It literally means
an opposer of Christ. An opposer of Christ or one who
usurps the place of Christ. And this Greek word is only found
in this epistle, and only in John's epistles, in this epistle
and the second epistle. And they collectively mean those
who deny that Jesus is the Messiah. And they oppose him. We'll see
that. We'll look later on at what 2 John says. Actually, just
in a little bit, we'll look there. John brings this forth. that
those who deny that the Messiah is come in the flesh, and we
know who the Messiah is, the Messiah is the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who deny that the Lord
Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, they are opponents and adversaries
of the Messiah. Now both the error of the Gnostics
and that of the Judaizers were prevalent when John was writing
this epistle. And both those errors are serious
departures from the central truth of the gospel. And the central
truth of the gospel, beloved, is Christ is all. Christ is all. Every false gospel adds man's
work and man's merit to salvation. Every single one of them. The message of false religion
is, what do you do to be saved? The message of grace is, look
to Christ and be saved. Look to Christ and be saved.
He did it all. He did it all. The message of false religion
takes away or adds something from the finished work of Christ.
Takes away or adds something to the finished work of Christ. And if it does that, it's Antichrist,
beloved. Because think of it, it's against
Christ. It's against Christ. It's Antichrist. It misses the gospel of God's
grace entirely. Entirely. The doctrine of Christ
is a pure and simple message, and it gives no basis of hope,
no basis of hope except in Christ. Except in Christ. The only hope the believer has
is in Christ, in Him. And He is the blessed hope of
all the elect children of God. He's the blessed hope. And this is what Paul summed
up in the book of Colossians. He writes this, To whom God would
make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery
among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. The hope of glory. Our hope is
centered, we who are the born-again, blood-washed saints of God, our
hope is absolutely centered in Christ and Christ alone. And
the believer says, I only have one hope, and that's Christ. The world don't say that at all,
but the believer says that. One hope, I got one hope, and
that's Christ and Christ alone. Paul goes on the right and In
Colossians 3, he says, where there is neither Greek nor Jew
circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond are
free, but Christ is all and in all. So the central theme of
the gospel is Christ is all. He did it all. Salvation's of
the Lord. And so therefore, the believer's
only hope is Christ. We look again, what Brother Scott
Richardson said, we look outside of ourselves and we look to Christ.
We look to him. So we know then from our text
that John is writing to born-again, blood-washed believers. We know
that. We know who he's writing to from our studies. This is
very clear from chapter 1 and from the beginning of chapter
2 all the way up to this point. We know who he's writing to.
He's writing to God's people. And the main subject he's been
writing on is Christ, which is What all gospel preachers do,
we preach and proclaim Christ, and Christ alone. He's been speaking
on the fellowship that the believer has with the Father, and that
all comes in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. In chapter
1 he spoke on this. He also has been speaking on
the contrast between a true believer and a false believer, all through
chapter 1 and also in parts of chapter 2. And he's been speaking
about how the believer in Christ, Has an advocate. Has an advocate. And that's the Lord Jesus Christ.
He's the only advocate we have. We have a propitiation for our
sins. And that's the Lord Jesus Christ,
who's the righteous one. Now tonight he's going to bring
forth some facts about those who depart from the faith. And
how do they do that? By adding to the finished work
of Christ. And this is true of all false
religions. They make a profession. Oh, they
say, I'm a Christian. Yeah. And then they add their
works. They're not a Christian. They're
a false professor. They're a false professor. Look again, let's read that text
again. Little children. It is the last time, as you have
heard, that antichrist shall come even now. Are there many
antichrists, whereby we know that this is the last time? 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
all of us. But ye have an unction from the
Holy One, and ye know all things. Now over the years since our
Lord walked this earth, There have been many divisions over
doctrine by those who would call themselves the followers of Christ. Some are so blatant and easily
identified as error, while others are more subtle. Therefore, we
who are the people of God, we're to be Bereans. We're to be Bereans,
beloved. We're to search the Scriptures
to see if it's so. To see if it's so. Some of these
errors through the years have arisen through ignorance and
dullness of hearing, and some have arisen through the work
of deceivers, false teachers, who have crept in unaware, as
the scripture says, with a desire to draw away disciples after
them. They want a following, beloved. They want a following. They desire a following. They
desire notoriety, even though they'd say they wouldn't, they
do. And these men sow seeds of division
and discord among the brethren. And they're rightly termed heretics
in the scriptures. Always remember that, look at
verse 21, always remember that no lies are the truth. First
John 2, 21, no lies are the truth. Look at the words there in verse
21. The Apostle John brings these
forth after speaking on Antichrist, which were at one time among
them. Look what he says. I have not written unto you because
you know not the truth. No, the believer in Christ knows
the truth. They know Christ is the only way, but because you
know it and that no lie is of the truth. God's people discern. have discernment, to know that
we've been shown by God the Holy Spirit what's truth and what's
error. There was a time when I didn't know that. Now, oh my, it's wonderful, the
gospel of God's grace. It's absolutely wonderful. Now
remember too that during the days when Paul and John were
writing against these epistles, they're writing against a very
damnable teaching, which arose early on in the church, which
is known again as Gnosticism. We looked at that in our study
in Colossians. Now there are various branches
and deviations of philosophy that fall into this teaching.
But all in all, it was another gospel. It's another gospel. And this teaching had crept into
the churches. had crept into the churches. And the most heinous
error associated with Gnosticism was that they denied that the
Lord Jesus Christ was actually a human being. They denied that
he was human. They denied that he was a human
being who walked upon this earth and who bled for his people.
And they denied, they denied that he was God at all. And Gnosticism, beloved, was
an outright assault on the very doctrine of Christ. Turn, if
you would, to 2 John. 2 John. Remember I said that
this word Antichrist in the Greek is only used in these two books?
Gnosticism was an outright assault, beloved, on the very doctrine
of Christ, without which there's no gospel. Look at the words of John over
here in 2 John. We see him bring forth that to
deny Christ was come in the flesh then is a deceiver and an antichrist. So these Gnostics, branches of
Gnosticism denied this. They also denied that there was
no sin, which we saw John deal with that, right? If you say
that you have not sinned, you're a liar. Make God a liar. Look at this in 2 John 7-11. For many deceivers are entered
into the world which confess not that Jesus Christ is come
in the flesh. This is a deceiver and antichrist.
You see how John immediately identifies that if one denies
that Christ came in the flesh, and we know, we know Christ is
God incarnate in the flesh. So if you're denying that He
came in the flesh, you're denying His deity, you're denying who
He is. Well, it's right there. This
is a deceiver and an antichrist. Look to yourselves that we lose
not those things which we have wrought, but we receive a full
reward. Whosoever transgresses and abides
not in the doctrine of Christ, well, what's that? Well, that's
believing that salvation's all of the Lord. All his work, beloved,
all his work, the doctrine of Christ, hath not God, and that
includes his deity, his humanity, that redemption is only through
him, that justification before God is only through him. He that
abideth in the doctrine of Christ, look at this, he hath both the
Father and the Son, praise God. Praise God for the believer.
That'd make my heart leap. If they come unto you and bring
not this doctrine, if they come to you and say, well, salvation's
by a little thing you do called works. If they bring any other doctrine
to you that adds anything to the work
of Christ or takes away anything from the work of Christ, it's
anti-Christ. It's a false gospel. It's so
clear, isn't it? If there come any unto you, and
bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither
bid him Godspeed. For he that bid him Godspeed
is a partaker of his evil deeds." We have absolutely nothing to
do with false religion. Now some who claim to be Christians
in the early church, taught that the pre-incarnate Christ was
just an angel, and that this angel took many forms, and we've
seen in our studies in the Scripture that Paul in the book of Hebrews
brings forth the contrast of Christ with angels in the first
chapter of the book of Hebrews, and now we know why. Now we know
why. And we can see why John brings
us forth in this epistle. Turn, if you would, to 1 John
1. He brings forth... Now we see why John brought forth
the humanity of Christ. Because there were some, he wrote
of, in 2 John that we just looked at, who denied that Christ came
in the flesh. And he said, they're antichrists. Now, with that in mind, now let's
read 1st John 1, verses 1 to 3, look at this. Look at how
John masterfully, and we know it's all by inspiration of the
Holy Spirit of God, brings forth the humanity and the deity of
our Lord Jesus Christ. That which was from the beginning,
from eternity, beloved. The one we read of in Proverbs.
From eternity. That which was from the beginning.
Which we have heard, they heard them. Just like you and I hear
each other. When we speak to one another,
they heard them. They heard them. Which we have seen with our eyes.
They looked upon them like we look upon each other, beloved.
In our hands of handle of the word of life. We give each other
hugs. I imagine they embraced each
other too. My. Oh my. Our hands have handled the word
of life. He's God. He's the bread of life,
beloved. For the life was manifest and
we have seen it. Again, he brings forth, they've
seen it. So there are eyewitnesses and bear witness and show unto
you eternal life, which was with the father and was manifest unto
us. When was he with the father?
In eternity. He's God, the word made flesh. that which we have
seen and heard." So they're eyewitnesses and earwitnesses, beloved. And
then, we declare unto you, Christ, that ye also may have fellowship
with us. And how is our fellowship? Only
through Christ. We have fellowship one with another
through Christ, and Christ alone. And truly our fellowship is with
the Father, and with His Son, Jesus Christ. So we can see how John is combating,
in 2 John, what we looked at over there, how he's combating
the truth that he's combating the Gnostic's error of denying
that Christ was God in the flesh. And we see, we just saw right
there at the first of this epistle, he's even battling it right there,
isn't he? He's setting forth the humanity and the deity of
Christ right before us. And the reason he's doing that
is because there's error that's crept into the church. There's
air that's crept in the church. And some of the Gnostics believed
that the material world did not exist. And therefore, there was
no such thing as sin. They even denied sin. They denied
sin. I remember a long time ago, I
was talking to a man who was deep into New Age thinking, teachings. And he told me, and he told me
this, I couldn't believe it. He told me that there was no
such thing as evil in this world. And I laughed out loud. I laughed
out loud when he told me that. Vicki was right there with me.
I laughed, I said, what are you talking about? Evil's all around
us. As a result of sin, but you see,
if you deny sin, then it's easy for you to deny evil. Well, evil's a result of sin,
isn't it? We're all sinners. We're all sinners. So the false
teachers are followers of the Gnostics and their ways, and
also the Judaizers. Don't forget about the Judaizers,
because in the early church, there was the Gnostics attacking
from within, and there was the Judaizers also, that Paul was
battling with in Galatia. And they tried to mix the truth
of justification by faith. They tried to mix the truth of
justification by faith alone, which is through Christ alone.
They tried to mix that with the Judaic system, which was built
upon the principle of the law. We know Christ is the end of
the law for righteousness, don't we? And in doing this, in adding
the works of the law to justification by faith alone, they actually
de-emphasized the actual redemption which Christ wrought out for
His people. And so then it became sin or
save yourself. We know how that ends. Oh my,
that's awful. So the false teachers or followers
of the Gnostic ways, again, tried to mix works with grace. The Gnostics said you had to
obtain a certain knowledge, and only they could give you that
knowledge. Do we see now why John said there's
already Antichrist within the church? Oh my. Oh my. So again, the Judaizers and the
Gnostics actually de-emphasized the actual redemption which Christ
had brought out for his people. And the Gnostics did this, again,
by saying, oh, there's no such thing as sin. There's no such
thing as sin. Or trying to excuse sin as if
it did not exist. Or that it was even desirable. And remember what John bought
forth in light of this in chapter 1. Let's go back to chapter 1
again. Let's read verses 5 to 10. And now we can read this
in light of knowing what was occurring and what the false
teachers were teaching. Look at this. And remember, Gnostics
both denied the incarnation of Christ, the fact that he was
really a man, and they denied that sin was even around. Now
let's read these verses in light of that. This then is a message
which we have heard of Him and declare unto you that God is
light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have
fellowship with Him, and that's the Father, and walk in darkness,
what? We lie and do not the truth. goes on. But if we walk in the
light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another.
I love this in the blood of Jesus Christ, his son cleanses us from
all sin. I love that little word all in
that wondrous, what a wondrous all cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin,
which the Gnostics were doing, we deceive ourselves and the
truth is not in us. The truth in them. If we confess
our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and
to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned,
again, which they did, we make Him a liar and His word is not
in us. Do you see how clear it is? What John's writing, and
remember, John's writing this by inspiration of the Holy Spirit
of God. And remember, the Judaizers,
again, tried to mix the truth of justification by faith alone
in Christ alone with following Jewish laws and commands. And
they said, you were only justified according to them by believing
on Christ and following the Jewish laws. Oh, my goodness. What bondage. No wonder Paul wrote to rejoice in the freedom
we have in Christ, beloved. to stand fast in the liberty
that we have in Christ. No wonder Paul wrote that. And
he wrote that to the Galatians who were battling with the error
of the Judaizers. And all the Judaizers were doing
were promoting justification by man's works. But we who are the people of
God, we who are born again believers, We know how wrong this error
is. We've been taught by the Holy
Spirit of God that justification with God is only in and through
the Lord Jesus Christ, no other way, and by His works alone. And to put simply, the error
of Gnosticism was that man thought they could reason out the truth
or know the truth by an operation of their own minds. They figured,
well, we can figure out who God is by our own knowledge. Well, the Lord tells us his ways
are not our ways and his thoughts are not our thoughts. And we
know that men grope around in the darkness of our natural state. This is exactly what Paul was
referring to when he said, for the Jews require a sign and the
Greeks seek after wisdom, knowledge. But we preach Christ crucified. unto the Jews a stone block and
unto the Greeks foolishness. There's nothing new under the
sun, beloved. There's nothing new under the sun. These two
errors are still prevalent even today. They've just been repackaged. They've just been repackaged. They've been redistributed as
how? Workspace religion. Workspace religion. Oh, if you
walk that aisle and pray that prayer, you're saved just like
that. That's called decisional regeneration. That's not Holy
Spirit regeneration. God can save you in your seat
without you moving a muscle. Because it's a hard work. It's
an operation of the homely spirit of God. So these two areas, they've
just been repackaged and redistributed as workspace religion. And all
it is, all it is, is man trying to establish his own righteousness
before God. That's all it is. trying to make themselves fit
before God by their own works. And well, we know how the Lord
looks at that. He looks at it as filthy rags. And our God, beloved, will accept
absolutely no one outside of Christ. Our God will accept no one outside
of Christ. But all who are in Christ are
saved, beloved. safe in the refuge of our souls.
And that's the Lord Jesus Christ. A believer, remember, is clothed
in the perfect, spotless righteousness of Christ, and God looks upon
us and sees Christ. Doesn't that make your heart
rejoice, you who are the beloved of God, knowing how much sinners
we are? Even after we're saved? Oh my, it makes my heart just
soar, beloved. Paul wrote this to the Galatians,
the very ones who the Judaizers were trying to convince that
salvation was through Christ and their works and following
the law. Listen to what Paul wrote to
them. He says, I do not frustrate the grace of God, for if righteousness
come by the law, then Christ is dead and vain. That's very
clear, isn't it? I do not frustrate the grace
of God, for if righteousness comes by the law, then Christ
is dead in vain. If righteousness comes by your
works or mine, then Christ is dead in vain. Praise God, Christ
isn't dead in vain. He died for his people as our
substitute on Calvary's cross. Oh, what a hope we have. And
then Paul wrote this also to the to the same Galatians. He
said this, Are ye so foolish, having begun in the Spirit? Are
ye now made perfect in the flesh? So he says, you're born again
by the Holy Spirit of God, and these Judaizers are coming in
and saying that in order for you to be saved, you have to
follow the law of Moses. Well, that's man's works, isn't
it? And so Paul writes them in Galatians chapter three, verse
three, he says, are you so foolish, having begun in the spirit, are
you now made perfect in the flesh? Well, every believer says, no,
in my flesh profit is nothing. This same error exists today. Do you know that? It's called
conditionalism. It's called conditionalism. And those who embrace this area
believe that men have the power to either gain or lose God's
blessings by their behavior. And they believe, as Job's miserable
comforters did, that the blessings of God are on those who obey
while those who do not suffer. This is nothing but legalism
wrapped up and repackaged in a whole new man. Now God's people
obey the word of God because we desire to, because the Holy
Spirit convicts us when we don't. But I'll tell you what, the blessings
of Christ to the believer are all based upon Christ and what
he did for us. As Brother Bruce Crabtree said
one time, we can't mess up our salvation. That's wonderful. That doesn't give us a A rule
to go crazy, that's not what that's talking about. But remember,
all who were in that ark were safe, weren't they? And all outside
perished. Christ is the ark of safety for
his people. Let's read our text again, verses
18 to 20. Little children, it is the last
time, and as ye have heard that any Christ shall come, even now
there are many antichrists, again same Greek word for both words
there, whereby we know that it is the last time. They went out
from us, but 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 all of us,
But you have an unction from the Holy One. That's that's our
great God. And, you know, all things, all
things. Note, John brings forth in the
latter part of verse 18 that this is the last time. Beloved,
we've been living in the last days since our Lord's ascension,
since our Lord's ascension. The design and what the apostle
saying here is this, that all things are accomplished, all
things are accomplished. There's nothing that is prophesied,
typified, or promised concerning redemption that is not fulfilled
in Christ. That's not fulfilled in Christ.
Nothing remains except the coming of Christ to gather His own,
to gather His sheep. Therefore, this is indeed the
last dispensation. And if the eternity of God's
kingdom is kept in mind, both prior to Calvary and afterwards,
then the time between Christ's death and Christ's return will
only appear as a moment to our great God. The Scriptures declare,
beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing that one day is with
the Lord is a thousand years. And a thousand years is one day.
Remember, our God dwells in eternity. He dwells outside of time and
space, beloved. We're constrained by time and space. He's not. He's not. And tonight we've looked
at how John told those he was writing to that Antichrist shall
come. It says there in 18, that Antichrist shall come, even now
there are many Antichrists, whereby we know that it is the last time.
Well, we saw over in 2 John that those who deny that Jesus has
come in the flesh is Antichrist. Anything that opposes Christ,
remember? Anything that opposes Christ
is Antichrist. And those who suppose that this
would be only one man are mistaken. John says even now there are
many antichrists. Someday this evil defection will
prevail through the whole visible church. Let's turn to 2 Thessalonians.
2 Thessalonians chapter two. 2 Thessalonians chapter two. Someday this evil defection will
prevail through the whole visible church. But our God has a remnant. He always will have a remnant.
He always has a people. Look at this in 2 Thessalonians.
We'll read verses 1 and 2 first. 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. All of God's people look to the
coming of Christ. And we look with great hope and
anticipation, don't we? We do. And the resurrection of
the dead, when he comes back, the resurrection of the dead,
and if we're still alive, that'll be the day we see the Lord. We're
either gonna see the Lord at our death, or we're gonna see
the Lord, if we're still alive, at his second coming. And no one knows when this is.
After you hear someone say they know the day, you can count,
you can be sure that it ain't that day. Not at all. And we'll see the Lord, though.
If we're alive, it is coming, we'll see the Lord. That great
time of gathering together of the Lord's people, and it gives
us great comfort and hope just to think about it, doesn't it? We look for his return. Look
at verses 3 and 4. Let no man deceive you by any
means, for that day shall not come except there come a falling
away and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes
and exalted 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. Note in verse three, there's
a warning, let no man deceive you by any means. Paul's writing again, here in
2 Thessalonians, Paul is writing to God's born again, blood washed
people. That's who he's writing to. Remember,
one of the four things we should always consider, who's he writing
to? He's writing to the church. He's writing to God's people.
in Thessalonica, and he says to them, don't be deceived. And
remember, this was written 1,900 years ago. In the very earliest days of
the church. And always remember that only God knows the coming
of Christ. Knows exactly when that will
be. No man knows it at all. No matter what they try to say.
No man knows but God. Paul then continues, in verse
4 for that day shall not come except there or let's read the
latter part of verse 3 with verse 4 for that day shall not come
except there come a falling away and that man of sin be revealed
the son of perdition who opposes and exalted himself above all
that is called God or that is worshiped so that he is God's
citizen the temple of God showing himself that he is God now Paul
brings forth here that there must come a falling away an apostasy
an apostasy a falling away from the truth of the gospel, a falling
away from the grace of God in Christ, a falling away from salvation
by grace alone, through Christ alone, of those who profess to
know God, and those who profess to be saved.
And as the man of sin, the son of perdition, must be revealed,
The one who exalts himself above God, dwelling in the house of
God, claiming to be God. Now many in our day believe that
this man of sin, or Antichrist, to be an individual, a single
person. But you know, both John Calvin
and John Gill say it's not an individual, but a succession
of religious leaders. They call it the spirit of Antichrist. Interesting, when you consider
what we've been reading tonight, eh? the spirit of Antichrist. Gill and Calvin teach that this
apostasy has occurred and that the spirit of Antichrist certainly
has possessed religion as a whole. And what it is is when the will
of man is exalted above God and the churches. Interesting. when the will of man is exalted
above God and the churches and salvation has been reduced to
works and deeds. My oh my. God's sovereignty and
reign over all these things have been denied. And that's what
the spirit of Antichrist does. It denies the finished work of
Christ. It denies the sovereignty of
God. It denies justification by faith
alone in Christ alone. And I'll be honest with you,
I agree with what John Gill and John Galvin say. I think it's
the Spirit. Note in verses 5 to 8, these
things seem to be brought forth from the teachings of Calvin
and Gil, look what he says in verses 5 to 8. 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. Remember
what John said, he says, the Antichrists are already among
us. Only he who now 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. Paul brings forth that the only
thing restraining the spirit of Antichrist from taking over
completely is God, the Holy Spirit. God, the Holy Spirit. And when
God's appointed day comes, the spirit of Antichrist will dominate.
And the Lord Jesus Christ will bring it all to an end. But remember,
the Lord always has a remnant. He always has a remnant. And now let's read verses 9 to
12. Even him who is coming is after the work of Satan with
all power and signs and lying wonders. with all deceivableness of unrighteousness
in them that perish, because they received not the love of
the truth, that they might be saved. They didn't receive that
salvation was by grace alone, in Christ alone, by faith alone. They didn't receive that. They didn't receive that. I didn't receive it before the
Lord saved me. But now I receive it as one of God's born again
people. Oh, and I know I receive it. I embrace it. Do you? It's wondrous,
isn't it? It's absolutely wondrous. Absolutely
wondrous. But look at that. And with all
deceivableness of unrighteousness and then that perish because
they receive 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. Oh, what a verse there. that
they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had
pleasure in unrighteousness." Those are pretty chilling verses. This Antichrist spirit, which
is false religion, which exalts the righteousness of man, is
in direct opposition, beloved, to the righteousness of Christ.
It is in direct opposition to the righteousness of Christ.
And this spirit of Antichrist is motivated and masterminded
by Satan. Turn, if you would, to 2 Corinthians,
chapter 11. How do we know that? Look at
2 Corinthians, chapter 11. Look at this, verses 13 to 15.
2 Corinthians, chapter 11, verses
13 to 15. For such are false apostles,
deceitful workers, Peddling lies, beloved. Telling you you're saved
by what you do. Instead of pointing you to Christ.
And they don't tell you those things because they don't know
Christ. They don't know Christ. For such are false apostles deceitful
workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
So we see there that Satan's false teachers transform themselves into the
Apostle of Christ. And then it says, in no marvel,
for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore
it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as ministers
of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their works.
The refuge of lies they are peddling will lead to their destruction.
and unfortunately lead to the destructions of all those who
fall. This is why it's vital to preach
and proclaim Christ from the pulpit. Whenever we get the chance,
preach and proclaim Christ, and Christ alone is the only hope
for sinners. Salvation is only in and through
Him. So they're attended by great power and success. And some of
them are attended by pretended miracles and marvels. Lying wonders. And those who follow these false
teachers, they also promote them. They also promote them. And why
do they do that? Because they're deceived. They're
deceived. They have not heard or read the
truth of Christ. They do not know Christ. They
are not born again. No matter what they profess. and they will not receive the
truth. When you tell them that salvation is by grace alone,
through Christ alone, and that we are only justified by God
through Christ, they will not receive it. I know, I was there. They will not receive it. But
when the believer is born again, regenerated, Hawker says that's
one thing that Satan can't counterfeit, is regeneration. Being born again
by the Holy Spirit of God, When we're born again by the Holy
Spirit of God, we rejoice these truths, don't we? We embrace
the truths, we rejoice in them. But the scripture says here that
those who are the followers of these false teacher, God has
sent them a strong delusion that they should believe a lie. And
they will not love the truth and they will not receive it.
I have experienced this time and time and time again in witnessing
to people about the grace of God in Christ alone. I cannot
tell you how many times I've seen people who profess to love
Christ, that's what they say, and when you mention election,
when you mention justification by faith alone, when you mention
that I'm just a sinner saved by grace, they absolutely recoil. And I'll tell you what, the knives
come out. Some of them, the knives come out. They just get so angry
with you, oh my. And they do not receive the truth,
and you know what they do? They hold even tighter to the
lie that they believe. They hold even tighter to that.
And there's none so blind as these who will not see. They
boast of their own righteousness, but one day they'll reap the
fruit of their own righteousness. Which will be their damnation. In Apostle's day, just as we
see now, the spirit of Antichrist was at work. The gospel of God's
grace proclaims Christ alone is the high priest of his people.
It proclaims a finished work of salvation in and through Christ
alone. And yet we see the spirit of
Antichrist at work, even in our day today. Whether our multiplication
of rights and works, which man must do to be saved. Or they say it's so-called church
authority. You hit on all that, too. In
order to be a true church, you have to be sent out by one who
has the proper authority. I used to be tied up in a group
like that. It's absolutely horrible. And there is a rampant teaching,
beloved, nowadays of salvation by the merits of man. And this
is absolutely nothing but a refuge of lies. It's a refuge of lies. and it will lead to the damnation
of all those souls who believe that lie. It will. Men may try to deny and explain
away the incarnation of Christ and His perfect atoning work,
but we who are the blood-bought people of God, we who are the
blood-bought people of God, we who are born again by the Holy
Spirit of God, by His divine power, we will gather together,
beloved. We're gathered together. And
the gospel of God's grace will be preached and proclaimed that
salvation is through Christ and him alone by his substitutionary
work in his life and in his death. And we will rejoice as long as
that message is being proclaimed. We will rejoice. And we will continue to trumpet
that salvation is of the Lord by his merits and by his work.
And the fact that the believer in Christ has all their sins
forgiven, all of them, by the shedding of the precious blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary's cross in the room and place of
His people. That will continue as the Lord
wills to be proclaimed. And we pray that God the Holy
Spirit will make the preaching of His Word effectual. Effectual. That it will save His lost sheep.
that through the regenerating power of God the Holy Spirit
that they'll be granted faith to believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. We also pray that the word of God goes forth and edifies
and builds up God's people so that we look to the one who is
our hope. The one who is our hope. We look away from ourselves.
To God be all the glory, beloved. To God be all the glory. Heavenly Father, we thank you
for allowing us to Look into thy word tonight. Oh Lord, while
we're in the midst of this world, we see false religion all around
us. Man trying to gain merit and
favor with God by what they do, and it comes in a thousand different
faces, oh Lord. And we know from the scriptures
that this is nothing but the spirit of Antichrist. Oh Lord,
we thank thee. We who are your people. We who
have had you revealed to us. We thank Thee because we know
that if You had not revealed Yourself to us, we'd still be
in the place we were, dead in trespasses and sins and without
hope. But oh, what a hope we have,
we who are Your people. Oh, what a hope we have. Salvation
all by Thee and Thee alone, O Lord, and all by Thy grace and Thy
mercy. Let us, who are Your people, let we who are born again by
Thy Spirit leave here tonight rejoicing over this wondrous
salvation that we have in Thee, in Jesus' name. Amen. Brother
John's going to close us in song.