We'll turn back to 2 Thessalonians
chapter 2. Bound to give thanks. We have a lot to be thankful
for, don't we? When I read this chapter, I started to title it The Antichrist. And I guarantee you, it will
get a lot more hits on the internet. If I were titled Antichrist,
I'd get two or three times the hits on the internet just because
of that title. Because everybody's interested
in that. Everybody in false religion. But people aren't, in general,
interested in that. But I thought to myself, but
to us, the church, The appropriate title is bound to give thanks. Thank God that we are not going
to be a part of that. That's what He saved us from.
So let's look at this. All who truly believe the gospel, who have tasted of the grace
of God, have much to be thankful for, and they know it. That's
one thing about God's people. They are a thankful people, and
they know they have much to be thankful for. God has not left us to ourselves. He has called us by the gospel
to the obtaining, it says, of the glory. We are going to obtain
the glory, whatever that is. We haven't seen it yet. We read
about it, preach about it. Paul said we preach in part,
we know in part. We only know a little part of
what we're talking about. But we are going to obtain the glory,
the same glory that he has. We are going to have. And we've
been called to it. Called to it by the gospel. And one of the things here now
that we have to give thanks for is that God has saved us not
only from a sinful life, but false religion and apostasy. Not one of God's children will
apostatize. Not one of them. He's not going
to let it happen. You wouldn't let one of your children do that.
He's sure not going to do it. And we give thanks for that.
So with this in mind, Paul gives us some instructions in this
chapter and comfort concerning our salvation in the Lord Jesus
Christ. And the first thing he starts
out with in verse 1 is this, Christ is coming. See, he's been
writing to them about the coming of Christ in the midst of misunderstanding. And he says to them, Christ is
coming. That's true. He's coming. And this is good
news. He's on his way. You know, the
believer has nothing to fear concerning the coming of Christ.
But I'm telling you this, it is an awesome event. We don't have to fear His coming,
but I'm telling you, for such an awesome event, to not be so
sober-minded. And this is what happened. They
thought it was so imminent. They believed His coming was
so imminent that it was just troubling. The church was stirred
up. They were just turned up. They
were anxious, anxious, almost useless. Your religion, true
religion doesn't make a man useless. It does not make a man useless.
But our Lord, he says here, is coming. But it's not an excuse. Don't use this as an excuse not
to be productive in the church or in the workplace. Go on to
work. Yes, he might come today. He might come tomorrow. And if
he does, just be found busy. Be found about your father's
business, which whatever it is he's given you to do, wherever
you work, that's what he's given you to do. Be about it. We look
for him. We expect his return. But we
don't use that as an excuse to be idle at all. You know, our Lord could return
today. Or a thousand years from now? I don't know. We don't know. We don't know. There's nothing
left to be fulfilled. There's no prophecy left to be
fulfilled. Everything's been fulfilled. The only thing left
to be fulfilled is the saving of the last sheep that was given
to him by the Father. When that one is brought into
the fold, this thing will wind up. That last sheep could be
here. You don't know. It could be.
And He brings that last sheep in and He'll wind this up. So
don't be shaken in mind, Paul says. Don't be shaken in mind. Or be troubled. Or be stirred
up to the point where you're useless. Don't let that happen. Don't let someone say that they
have a special revelation from God and in July the 1st the Lord's
coming. That's nothing. Only the Father
knows that. Only the Father knows that day.
Only He knows. And it'll happen just as He purposed
it to happen. And don't let anyone trouble
you by spirit, that is, by saying they have some special revelation.
That's why John said, try the spirits, whether they are God. Not everyone stands in the pulpits
of God. Most are not. Really, most are not. This morning,
Most people, most men, that are standing in pulpits are not of
God. That's sad, but it's so. And don't let anybody trouble
you by word, using the word of God falsely, or as a letter from
us, as though we wrote it and sent it to you. Don't let any
man deceive you by any means, or any of the above means. You know, you really think you
couldn't be deceived, do you? You think that. Look over in
Galatians. These people listened to the
Apostle Paul. He said, Jesus Christ was evidently
set forth before you. They listened to the Apostle
Paul preach the gospel. And he says in chapter one and
verse six, I marvel I marvel that ye are so soon removed from
him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another
gospel. I marvel, Paul said, I'm astounded
that you are so soon removed, which is not another, but there'll
be some that trouble you, and there'll always be some that
trouble you. There'll always be some rise up from among the
brethren causing trouble, stirring up, because that's where the
antichrist comes from, right up from among the brethren. That's
where it comes from. That's what Paul said to the
Corinthians. Heresy will rise up from among
you. He said, but it's not another
gospel, but there'll be some that trouble you and will pervert
the gospel of Christ. These are not men outside. He
said, they're among you. But though we or an angel from
heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have
preached unto you, let him be accursed. Don't receive it. Don't receive it. Don't let any
man deceive you by any means. We ought to be so stable in the
gospel and understand the gospel and know Christ that we are not
easily moved. Not at all. But Paul tells them
here, in the first part of this chapter, that even though there's
no prophecy left to be fulfilled, there must come a falling away
first before the Lord returns. He says there must come a falling
away first and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.
Paul is talking here about this falling away is a departure from
the faith. It's not. He's not talking about
people falling away and becoming drunks and, you know, the vices
of this flesh. He's talking about a departure
from the faith. Oh, they'll still be religious.
They'll still be religious. They'll be anti-Christ. They'll
still be religious. And they'll depart from the faith
by men and women who claim to believe the gospel. That's where
it's going to come from. He said that's where it's going
to come from. And that man of sin be revealed. God's elect
will know him. When Jimmy Swagger stands in
the pulpit, I know that man is Antichrist. The Pope, when he
walks out of his little hole and blesses, that's Antichrist. You understand that. You know
that. The world won't know it. When he's revealed, they don't
know it. They worship him. They fall for it. They think
they're great men. They think these men are of God,
but they're not. They're Antichrist. And Paul
says, that man of sin will be revealed. He reveals to the church.
The church understands and knows the gospel. And when they hear
some man preach a lie, they know it. But the world doesn't know
it. They'll never know it. They'll
never know it. But God's elect will. But when
he speaks here, that man of sin be revealed. And I agree with
John Gill on this and Calvin. They spoke of this. That he's
not speaking of any one particular man. You see, the so-called church
out there, the false religion, is looking for some hideous man,
and they're it. They're it. It's not any one particular man,
but a succession of men, standing in pulpits, lying on God. using His name. Paul said they
will come preaching what? Another Jesus. Another Jesus. They'll use His
name, but they won't preach His character. They will not preach
who He is, what He did, who He did it for and where He is now.
They will not give Him all the glory that belongs to Him in
salvation. They'll not do that. It's a succession
of men And I believe he's called a man here because all these
men standing in these pulpits is under the same spirit. Every
one of them is under the same spirit and every one of them
have that same sinful motive. They all make up one man. They
all do. And here's what they do. They
oppose. They oppose the gospel. These all oppose Christ. And
here, I think, is part of the mystery of iniquity that's already
at work. I can't dive into all of this.
This is over my head. But part of this mystery that's
already at work is this. They stand in the pulpit. And
like I said, they use his name. They take the Bible. They use
the Bible. They talk about grace. They use
Bible terminology. They talk about his blood. They
talk about righteousness, but they're opposed to Him. They're
opposed to Christ alone. They're opposed to grace alone.
God's done all He can do, now the rest is up to you. That is
Antichrist. That is the spirit of Antichrist.
That's the mystery of iniquity that's already at work. You know, when you think of the
mystery of iniquity, you're thinking of People who are committing
some just sins, I mean just awful things. But it's those people dressed
up every Sunday morning, going to church, against abortion, against everything
you can think about, against all the vices. You wouldn't think
there's anti-Christ, would you? The world wouldn't. That's why
the world says you're crazy. These are good people. These
are the best people in town, whether or not they oppose the
gospel of grace alone, Christ alone. They oppose the kingly
reign of the Lord Jesus Christ. You talk to them about the sovereignty
of God in salvation, I know one particular older lady that I
talked to one time. I mean, if you knew her, you'd
think she's the best person in town. I'm telling you. And I
got to talking to her about Christ dying for God's elect, the ones
that were given to Him by the Father. She was upset. That nice
old lady became an angry old lady. She became upset. Hated it. despises. They oppose His sovereign
rights to do as He will. Most of religion out here today,
all false religion, all false religion, despise the sovereign reign of
Jesus Christ. They'll have Him doing miracles
and they'll have Him doing this and that, good things. But you
just put Him on the throne. See how they like Him. See how they like Him. They oppose
Him. They oppose His righteousness. They oppose His righteousness
alone. You mean to tell me that all
this good stuff means nothing? Not as far as acceptance. Our
acceptance with God is Christ alone. Our dress before God is Christ's
righteousness alone. You notice when you read over
the book of Revelation, they all wear what? White robes. It's
symbolizing the righteousness of Christ. All of us in here
this morning, we've got different stuff. But not in the glory. We're all dressed in His righteousness.
We all look like Him. conform to the image of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And you know what? It doesn't
make us mad. It doesn't make us mad. Glad
to wear the same things. Some people don't like it. Somebody
buys something, they say, that's the same thing I've got on. Boy,
we're glad to wear the same thing. The righteousness of the Lord
Jesus Christ. We're not opposed to that, but
the anti-Christ spirit is. And I'll tell you something else
they have done. They oppose him, they oppose his sovereign rights,
and they have set up man's free will instead of his sovereign
will. They defend, and this is amazing,
they defend man's free will over God's sovereign will. Is not God wise enough to choose? Did not David say, He shall choose
our inheritance for us? I'm glad of that. For me to want to exalt a man's
will over God's will, that tells me that I think more of the man
than I do God. I think a man has more wisdom than God has. Well, I tell you what, I want
him to violate my will. He can do it with my full consent.
He can. And he said, these men sit in
the temple or the house of God, the church of God, so-called.
This anti-Christ spirit will sit in the church, what we call
the churches around here. You know, they call them churches,
so-called. And they'll sit in the temple. These are men who rose up from
among the brethren. Look over in 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians chapter 11. Paul
says this to the Corinthians. In chapter 11, let me see, verse
19 I believe it is. In verse 19, Paul says,
For there must be also heresies among you. that they which are
approved may be made manifest among you." But these arise up
from among you. That's where it's going to come
from. He said, from among you. This man opposes salvation by
grace. He opposes salvation by Christ's
righteousness. He opposes salvation by Christ's
blood alone. And here's the mystery of it.
They use all this terminology. They use all this terminology,
yet they're opposed to it. Because they always have to add something
to it. Always. And these men declare to be called
of God and speak on God's behalf. Some of them declare to be God.
I read this last night. Pope John XXII. This was just
one of them. I wrote this one down. You know
what they called him? Our Lord God the Pope. That's
what they called him. But that was just one, several
of them was called that. But they called Him, Our Lord God
the Father. He stood there as God. And they
called upon Him as God. Now Paul says, remember ye not,
I told you this, oh how forgetful we are. How forgetful we are. Remembered you not. When I was
with you, I told you this. I tell you, when it comes to
truth, I don't know why it seems it's harder to retain. We can
retain a bad joke a whole lot longer than we can retain truth.
It's that old nature, isn't it? It's that old nature. I can remember
bad jokes from when I was in elementary. I'm serious. There's some I can remember when
I was in elementary. And I struggle sometimes, a lot
of times, trying to remember when I'm standing up here repeating
Scripture. I've got to turn to it. Yet I can remember a stinking
joke from when I was in elementary. That's us. Paul declared to them
the whole counsel of God. He talked to them about this,
about this very thing. He talked to them about it. But
yet some false teachers came in and some smooth-talking men
slid in and just stirred them up, troubled them. And Paul had
to write this letter, his second letter, to help straighten things
out. And he says here in verse 6,
And now you know what withholds, withholdeth, or restrains the
keeping from taking over, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit
restrains and withholds the power of Antichrist from taking over
completely. Completely. But in God's appointed
time, this spirit of Antichrist will dominate and go throughout all the nations.
And I tell you why. I have to believe we're there. I have to believe we are there.
For God has Loose Satan from that pit, he says, for a thousand
years, for a little season. Bound him for a thousand years
and loosed him for a little season to deceive the nations over in
Revelation chapter 20. I have to believe we're there.
If you look at religion as a whole across this world, it's just anti-Christ. It's opposed
to the gospel of Christ. It's hard to find a place. Someone
asked me, it's been years ago when I moved down here, someone
said, why did you move all the way to Ashland when you have
all these churches up here in Milton and this area? Because
I told them, I said, I moved to Ashland to attend the 13th
Street Baptist Church. You know, Henry's a pastor there
and preached the gospel. And I said, I moved there to
hear the gospel. And this person asked, but you
have all these places here. No, you don't. No, you don't. There are very few places, and
I can say this boldly and dogmatically, there are very few places you
can go and hear the gospel of God's grace. Very few. And you tell that to people,
you become very unpopular very quick. But it's true. True. But, At this time, when this spirit of Antichrist
goes throughout and deceives all these nations, and it's dominant,
he said, then the Lord's going to come. Then the Lord's going
to come. And he's going to put an end.
He's going to put a final end to him when he comes. He's going
to put a stop to it. Paul says, for the mystery of
iniquity is already at work. It's been at work for a long
time, hasn't it? Been at work for a long time. I believe it
was Joe Terrell I heard say one time, he said, what's strange
is this, it's the spirit of Antichrist leading the search for Antichrist. They're all looking for him,
and they're it. We're looking for Christ, aren't
we? I'm not looking for the Antichrist.
I'm looking for the Lord Jesus Christ. The church is looking
for the Lord Jesus Christ. We're looking for Him. But Paul
says these things have to come, this has to come to pass. There
has to come this falling away first. And that man of sin be
revealed. This Antichrist spirit. And this
spirit of Antichrist is going to rise up You see here in verses
8 through 10, 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 receive not the love of the truth, that
they might be saved. This spirit of antichrist is
going to rise up. It's going to dominate for a
little while. It's going to be revealed. And then God's going
to destroy it. He's going to destroy it according
to His eternal purpose. It's under control. It's under control. And it's
going just as God has purposed. This thing is going just as God
Almighty has purposed it to go. It's not out of control. It's
not out of hand. When you and I look at it, we think, man,
what a mess. You look at religion, you look,
but it's still under his control. It's under his control. And the
mastermind behind all of this is Satan. He's the mastermind
behind all of it. And when all this happens, he
says it's going to be attended with miracles and lime wonders.
I mean, that's all you see nowadays, isn't it? I mean, it's always
miracles this. That's why I think we're right
there in it. I do. And every one of those who love
not the truth, who love not the Lord Jesus Christ, He's the truth,
they shall be deceived. They are the ones who are going
to be deceived. You're not. The church is not going to be deceived.
But those who love not the truth, they will be deceived. And their
delusions about God, about Christ, and about salvation will be even
more off course. be deceived. They will become
even more self-righteous and more religious outwardly than
ever. And because of this, because they receive not the love of
the truth, God's going to send them strong delusions. Strong
delusions of leave a lie and be damned. Since they reject
the truth, God's going to send them what they want. Sometimes He'll give you what
you want. They desire not the knowledge
of His ways. Men are responsible. Now listen.
They are responsible for how they treat the gospel. They are. And they're going to believe
a lie instead of truth. And every one of them, He says, is going
to be damned or brought into judgment. That's what's going
to happen. There's going to be a distinction made between real
believers and pretenders. And these are the ones who had
pleasure in unrighteousness that's going to be deceived, that's
going to be damned. And this pleasure in unrighteousness,
now listen, they are those who took pleasure and pride in their
own righteousness. It's called unrighteousness here,
but what they're taking pleasure in is their unrighteousness. They're glorying their own self-righteousness
instead of Christ's righteousness. Oh, I'm glad we get to this part. But we are bound to give thanks
always to God for you, brethren. God is to be thanked for saving
our souls. No believer will apostatize.
No. Don't be afraid of the Antichrist,
for God is with us. You will not be deceived. You
won't be a part of this group. No. Why? Because you are beloved
of the Lord. He calls them beloved of the
Lord. You are His children. You belong to Him. He will not
let you go. He's not going to let you go. You are His children. And the
evidence of this and of His love is this. God has from the beginning
chosen you. He's chosen you to salvation.
That's just astounding. That before creation, before
the world began, that God actually thought upon me. Before I was
ever created, before I came into this world, before God created
the world, before anything else existed, God thought upon me. God loved me. And he gave me to his son and
said, bring him home. Bound to give thanks. Many out
there are deceived. Few there are to be saved. Many
are deceived. Many. But you're not. You who
believe the gospel, you're not deceived. God has chosen you. He's loved you, chosen you and
given you to his son to redeem you. And he's going to have you.
He's going to have you. God has from the beginning chosen
you to salvation. God has purposed. He has purposed
to save you. And He did this before the world
was. It wasn't an afterthought with God. Oh, I'll tell you this. I think
the doctrine of election is a glorious doctrine. I love it. I love it because of the God
of election. He chose me. We do not praise Him enough for
that, do we? We cannot praise Him enough for
that. I never get tired of hearing that God chose me in Christ.
Loved me in Christ. Redeemed me in Christ. Called
me in Christ. And I'm going to obtain, and
you're going to obtain the glory, the same glory that belongs to
the Lord Jesus Christ. But he also, listen, he not only
chose us, but he also chose the means through sanctification
of the Spirit and belief of the truth. All whom God saves, everyone
whom he saves, he saves through the regenerating work of the
Holy Spirit, doesn't he? He saves them through the regenerating
work of the Holy Spirit. He makes them partakers of the
divine nature. You take away any of the means,
you take away any of these means, and you're not saved. If you eliminate any of them.
You know, God has never done anything unnecessary, has he?
Everything God has ever done ever will do is absolutely necessary. And you and I cannot do away
with any of it. Through sanctification of the
Spirit and belief of the truth, we are born of God and we believe
God. Any man who doesn't believe God
is lost. Peter writes it like this. Well,
these men were not backwards about using that word, were they?
Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through sanctification
of the Spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of
Jesus Christ, grace and peace be multiplied to you. If it were
not for the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, we wouldn't
know anything of the Lord Jesus Christ, would we? We looked at
that about a week ago. He'll take the things of mine
and show them to you, reveal them to you. In fact, we wouldn't
even know Christ Himself. We wouldn't know Him apart from
Him. How does all this take place?
How does all of it take place? He says here in verse 14, Whereunto
He called you by our gospel. God sent the gospel to you. God
sent the gospel of His grace to you, the gospel of His Son
to you, and effectually called you, effectually drew you. He took possession of you. He
took over. The strong man of the house took
over. And He called you by our gospel. God gave the gospel of
Paul, and He's given it to us. And He's called us by the gospel
to the attaining of something. The glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit called you by
the gospel. God sent the gospel to you in
power. You believed and repented, and you still believe and still
repent. And you'll keep on doing that until He takes us out of
this world. seeing that God has chosen you,
God has loved you, God has called you by the gospel, stand fast. Don't be so easily moved. Don't
be so easily shaken in the mind and terrified and just anxious. He said, don't,
just stand fast. Be stable. Oh, nothing like stability,
is there? Be stable. Be stable. And hold the traditions which
you've been taught whether by word or our epistles. Now listen, let your religious
traditions go. Those false religions and the traditions taught by
those false men, let those go. But what God has taught us in
His Word, the doctrines of the Gospel, hold on to them. Hold
on to them. Don't let them go. Stand fast. Don't waver. You hold on to them.
For God has given us a good hope through grace. We have a good
hope. It's a sound hope. It's a solid
hope. It's a sure hope. And it's in
the Lord Jesus Christ. He's our hope. He's our hope. And He's coming. And He's coming. And Paul prays, he says here
in verse 16 and 17, Now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God,
even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting
consolation, and a good hope through grace, comfort your hearts."
Settle you. Settle you down. He said, I pray
God will comfort your hearts and establish you in every good
word and work. We have much to be thankful for,
don't we? When I read this chapter, I thought that has to be the
title. That has to be the title for the church. To the church. We're not trying to satisfy curiosity.
We're just trying to preach Christ.