We should turn back to 2 Thessalonians,
Chapter 2. I've entitled the message for
this morning, Free Will and Antichrist. free will, and anti-Christ. Now what do you think of when
you think of anti-Christ? I naturally think of some wicked,
powerful being that is opposed to and against Christ. The word anti, the prefix anti,
anti-Christ, doesn't mean against Christ. It means in the stead
of Christ. In the place of Christ. Free will and anti-Christ. Now let me say at the outset
of this message that free will is the enemy of the Lord Jesus
Christ. I hope we'll see that clearly
by the time this message is over. Free will and anti-Christ. Now, this epistle of 2 Thessalonians
was written just a few months after 1 Thessalonians, and he
states his reason for writing. Look in 2 Thessalonians 2, verse
1. Here's his reason for writing
this epistle. Now, we beseech you, brethren,
by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, This is referring to
his second coming. And by our gathering together
unto him, when he comes, that you be not soon shaken in mind
or be troubled, neither by spirit nor by word nor by letter, as
from us, that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive
you by any means. Now, these men were using Paul's
name and writing letters in Paul's name to scare people with regard
to the second coming of Christ. They were using an aspect of
truth and they were using it in a deceptive manner. And they were even claiming this
to be from the words of Paul himself, his letters. Now, error always has truth distorted. And these men were doing that.
And this thing of the second coming of Christ has been used
for centuries by men to deceive people. What comes to my mind
even recently is Harold Camping. You can remember perhaps that
he was telling everybody when Christ would come. He had a date,
and he thought he had it figured out from the scriptures. I believe
he really believed that. I don't think he knew he was seeking
to deceive people, but that's what he was doing. He was seeking
to deceive people in order to influence them to follow him
and get on his bandwagon. And that's what was going on.
Even at this time, they were using the second coming of Christ,
something that will happen that has truth with regard to it.
And, uh, they were trying to deceive people and here's what
they were doing. He says in verse three, let no man deceive you
by any means for that day shall not come except there come a
falling away first. An apostasy is the word. That day will not come except
there first be a great falling away. An apostasy. Now these people were writing
these fraudulent letters and making these claims to promote
their false doctrine and they were saying, The second coming
of Christ is at hand or even perhaps has already been. Some
have thought they were saying. And you know, men use that with
unclean motives in order to get something out of people. And
that's what was going on. And he said, don't be concerned
that this time has come because there will first be a great apostasy. A great falling away. And I think of the Lord's words
when he said, when the son of man cometh, shall he find faith
on the earth? You see, the end days will be
a time of great apostasy. Look what it says. That man of sin be revealed. the son of perdition who opposeth
and exalteth himself above all that is called God or that is
worshiped, so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God,
showing himself that he is God. Now, I've already told you about
this. Remember, not that I've already told you these things?
Now, if somebody came in here, in this room, and announced,
I'm God, Would you believe them? I doubt it. I doubt it. Here we read of a man, the son
of perdition, who comes and exalts himself above all that is called
God. Now this is a reference to the
anti-Christ. Now, hold your finger there and
turn to 1 John chapter 4. Verse 1, Beloved, believe not
every spirit. Everybody that comes claiming
to be a representative of God and preaching the gospel. Believe
not every spirit, but try the spirits. Put them to the test. whether they are of God, because
many, not a few, many false prophets are gone out into the world.
Hereby know ye the Spirit of God, every spirit that confesseth
that Jesus is Christ, or Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.
is of God, and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ
is come in the flesh is not of God, but this is that spirit
of anti-Christ. Now, is this some anti-Christ
B that doesn't measure up to this one we just read up in 2
Thessalonians 2, kind of a minor anti-Christ? Look in 2 John. Second John, verse seven, for many deceivers
are entered into the world who confess not that Jesus Christ
has come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. Look to yourselves that we lose
not those things which we have wrought, but have received a
full reward. Now, according to John, there
are a lot of antichrists. a lot of Antichrists. And I suggest that this man spoken
of in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 is the personification of the
message of Antichrist. What's his message? Now, could
it be a man? I suppose so, but I don't think
so. I think that this is the personification of the message
of Babylon religion, of the message of anti-Christ. Now let's look what his message
is back in 2 Thessalonians. This man of sin, this son of
perdition, this son of hell, what does he do? He opposes and
exalts 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 Now Free will Says My will is
independent of God's will Free will is a denial that Christ
is all in salvation. The notion of free will is the
message of anti-Christ. This is how serious this is.
This isn't just a difference of opinion. And I, let me say
this, I'm not just trying to get, turn somebody from, stop
your Armenian ways. This is not what this is about.
This is about anti-Christ religion. Free will and anti-Christ. Free will takes, asserts the
position of God. It says my will is ultimately
what's gonna take place. My will. is the deciding factor
in salvation. That's the message of free will.
Now, free wills are given with most people. Of course man has
a free will. Well, you do what you want to.
Nobody's going to deny that. Men do what they want to do.
But if I take free will and make that as the cause of my salvation,
ultimately what I'm doing is practicing the religion of Antichrist. I am denying by that statement
that Jesus Christ is all in salvation. I'm giving my will the ultimate
credit for salvation. And that is the religion of Antichrist. thing of free will began in the
Garden of Eden. Would you turn with me to Genesis
chapter 3 verse 1. 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 you shall not eat of
every tree of the garden? He begins with questioning the
absolute word of God. And the woman said unto the serpent,
We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden. God said
we could. But of the tree of the But of the fruit of the tree
which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, you shall
not eat of it, neither shall you touch it lest you die. And the serpent said unto the
woman, you shall not surely die. I know God said you would, but
you shall not surely die. Here is what is going on. God
doth know that in the day you eat thereof, then your eyes shall
be opened and you shall be as God's. You'll be equal to him,
knowing good and evil. Here's what's going to make you
like God. You're gonna know good and evil, and you are going to
choose the good over the evil, and that's what makes you like
God. You see, right now, you're just obeying your nature. There's no merit to you obeying
your nature. You're not making a choice of
good over evil. You're just doing what comes
natural. Now, if you eat this fruit, you'll have a free will.
And you will choose the good over the evil. And that is what'll
make you like God. You see, that's exactly what's
being said in verse four. Taking the place of God. In the stead of God. Now please hear me, this thing
of free will is anti-Christ religion. And it pops up in so many different
ways in men's religion. Now, think of, I'm saved because
I chose to let God save me. I chose to ask Jesus into my
heart. I chose to accept him as my personal
savior. That means your will is the ultimate
cause of salvation, not Christ's will or God's will or His grace. Somebody in the middle of their
salvation. I touched on this not that long ago, the notion that there's a black
dog and a white dog, speaking of the two natures. and you got
a bad nature, you got a good nature. Now, the one will grow
that you feed. If you feed the bad nature, it'll
grow. If you feed the good nature,
it will grow. Now, there's one problem with
that. That makes your growth dependent upon your decision. I'm going to decide to feed the
good nature. Oh, good. Well, I'm going to
decide to feed the bad nature. It's God that worketh in you
both to will and to do his good pleasure. That's what the scripture
says. This is the error of progressive sanctification. I can choose
to become better by my decisions to pray more and to put down
sin more and to make more efforts in godliness and so on. By my
decisions, I can become better and better I want to become,
I want to be without sin. I do, but that very way of thinking
puts my will on the throne of my growth. That is anti Christ
religion. That's all it is. It's making
man's will to take the place of God's will. And if at the
end of my salvation, I'm granted a higher reward in heaven, it'll
be because of these decisions I've made to do better, and now
I'm getting a higher reward. It's putting man's will in the
place of God's will. Now, your will is controlled
by your nature, and there is no such thing as free will, and
yet that is the message of Antichrist, your will, your will. Now let's go on reading back
to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. This man of sin opposes and exalts
himself. above all that's called God or
that's worshipped, so that he as God, that's man's will, taking
God's place in their own mind, he as God sits in the temple
of God showing himself that he is God. Remember ye not that
when I was with you, I told you these things? I'm not telling
you anything new. And now you know what withholdeth
that he might be revealed in his time. God is the one restraining
this final apostasy until it takes place. For the mystery
of iniquity doth already work. This spirit of free will. The mystery. Now, the reason
we know this mystery is because God's made it known. The mystery
of Babylon. The reason we know this is because
God has made this mystery known. For the mystery of iniquity doth
already work. Only he who now letteth prevents
it will let until he be taken out of the way. And then shall
that wicked be revealed. Antichrist religion and all of
its adherents the message of Antichrist 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. When the Lord returns there's
such glory in his return that that wicked will be destroyed
by the brightness of his coming. Verse 9, even him whose coming
is after the working of Satan. Now Satan is behind Antichrist
religion. He's represented as the serpent
in the garden. It all comes from Him. He's called
the Father of Lies by our Lord. And remember when Paul talked
about Him, he said He'll come as an angel of light. He's not
going to come with horns and a pitchfork and a pointy tail
and a red suit. He comes as a preacher. He comes
with religious language using the same book we use. Pulling
verses out of context and promoting His doctrine. Whosoever will.
Whosoever will. pulling it out of what's being
said. And He comes with power. He comes
with all signs and power and lying wonders. People will hear
His message and they'll be impressed by this. Verse 10, And with all deceivableness
of unrighteousness in them that perish, Because they receive
not, and underline this in your heart, the love of the truth. The love of the truth. Let me
repeat that. The love of the truth. That they might be saved. Now, there's a big difference
between receiving the truth and receiving the love of the truth. You know, believing God is sovereign,
you see it in the scripture, and really it's logical. It only
makes sense. If you don't have a completely
sovereign God, what do you have? It doesn't even make sense. I see that the Bible teaches that men are unable to save themselves. I mean, you can't read the Bible
and come up with anything else. You had the Quicken who were
dead in trespasses and sins. I see that the Bible teaches
God elected who would be saved before time began. I see that.
You can't be honest with the scriptures and deny election.
Somebody that denies election, they can say they believe the
Bible's the word of God, but I don't believe they do. They don't have
any respect for what it says. Let's just talk. It's easy to
see from the scriptures that Christ died for the elect. He
said, I laid down my life for the sheep. He didn't die for
everybody. It doesn't even make sense to think that he could
die for somebody and pay for their sins, and they wind up going
to hell. Why, the Bible doesn't teach anything like that. I see
that. I see that God's grace actually saves. You can receive
the truth just intellectually and say, yeah, that makes sense.
Let me ask you this. Do you love that the Bible's
the word of God, so you're not dependent upon some man to show
you the truth. Do you love the God who is sovereign? I'm not asking if you believe
in the sovereignty of God. Do you love the God who's absolutely
sovereign? Do you love the truth that you're
totally depraved? Not because you love being totally
depraved, but it shows you you've got to look outside of yourself
for salvation. Do you love that? Do you love God electing a people
because you know that if he didn't elect people, you wouldn't be
saved? Do you love Christ's effectual atonement for the elect? Do you
love the fact that if he died for you, you must be saved because
of who he is? Do you love that God's grace
is saving grace, invincible grace? It's receiving the love of the
truth, not just the logic of the truth. Anybody can receive
that. the love of the truth. Now, let's go on reading. With
all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish, because
they receive not the love of the truth, that they might be
saved. You see, if you don't receive the love of the truth,
you won't be saved. Now, what happens when somebody loves the
truth? The example that came to my mind was in 1 Kings chapter
3. where we read of the wisdom of
Solomon, and there were two women who were harlots, who both had
a baby about the same time, and they lived in the same house,
and they were sleeping in the same bed. And one of those women
rolled over and smothered her infant. The infant's now dead. She looks at the other woman
breathing and her infant is alive. So she takes her dead infant
and puts it where that woman is and she takes that woman's
living infant and brings it to herself. Now they wake up and
that woman sees the baby beside her dead and she realizes, that's
not my child. And she goes to this woman with
her living child and said, that's my child. And she said, no, it's
not. That's my child. She's lying, wasn't she? But
she said, that's my child. Well, this is what demonstrates
the wisdom of Solomon. They couldn't come up with an
answer, and they called for Solomon. Solomon says, is it your child?
It's my child, the living child. Is it your child? The other one
says, no, it's my child. He said, well, here's what we're
going to do. He said, bring me a sword. He said, we're going
to cut that child in half so one can have one and the other
can have the other part. We'll make it even. And the woman
said, sounds good to me. Sounds good to me. I'll agree
to those terms. I'm willing for that child to
be divided. But the one who loved the child said, give the child
to her. You see, she loved the truth,
she loved the child. And she was not willing for that
child to be divided. If you love the truth, you are
not willing for the truth to be divided, hacked off, other
things taken away. Because they received not the
love of the truth. Do you hear that? The love of
the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause, verse
11, For this cause, because they
receive not the love of the truth, God shall send them strong delusion. God shall send them. Who sends
it? God does. You know what that strong delusion
means? It means delusion you're gonna
be deluded by. You see, if God deludes you,
you're deluded. If God deceives you, you're deceived. And he
does this as a judgment. God shall send them strong delusion
that they should believe. And in the original, not a lie,
the lie, the lie. The lie is free will. That is the lie. It's the lie
behind every other lie. It's the mother of error. It
began in the garden. You'll have a free will. You'll
make the right choice. And that is what will make you
like God. Probably you've heard the end
of this poem called In Viticus. It was written by William E. Henley back in the last century. But this man writes this poem. Out of the night that covers
me, black as the pit, from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods
may be, for my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstances,
I have not winced, nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeoning
of chance, my head is bloody, but unbowed. Beyond the place
of wrath and tears, looms but the horror of the shade, and
yet the menace of the years finds my soul unafraid. It matters not how straight the
gate, how charged with punishment the scroll. I am the master of
my fate. I am the captain of my soul."
That man believed the lie. Free will says, I am the master
of my fate. I am the captain of my soul. This is not just a different
philosophy. This is anti-Christ religion. And to this cause, verse 11,
God shall send them strong delusion. Would God do that? Yep, he does
it. God shall send them strong delusion
that they should believe a lie that they all might be damned
who believed not the truth. Now, let me remind you, believing
the truth isn't just believing a set of propositions. Jesus
Christ is the truth. He said, I am the truth. When speaking of believing the
truth, it's not talking about believing some propositions that
have been presented to you that you decide whether or not you
agree with or not. No. That they all might be damned
who believe not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. They found pleasure in that which
they believed that was contrary to the gospel. Verse 13, but Oh, I love the buts of scripture.
But God, who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith
he loved us. But Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. But, now who made you to differ? Why is it that you receive the
love of the truth? Who made you to differ? God made you to differ. That's
the only reason. But we are bound to give thanks
always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because
God hath from the beginning. Chosen you to salvation through
sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth. Now, I love the way Paul begins
this glorious statement with regarding God's election. we're bound to thank God. Now
understand this, election is the doctrine of divine praise. We're bound to thank God. I once heard of a young man who
prepared a message that he entitled, The Hated Doctrine of Election. And he brought it to a preacher
and said, tell me what you think about this. And he read the title
and said, take it and burn it. And write another message entitled,
The Beloved Doctrine of Election. What a beloved doctrine this
is to God's elect. Every one of them love it, without
exception. Every one of God's elect love
and thank God for election now look at this carefully verse
13, but We are bound to give thanks always to God for you
brethren beloved of the Lord Everybody that God loves are
elected All of them. Doesn't God love everybody? Nope.
Nope. Let me just answer that real
clearly. No. He didn't love Esau, did he? He said, Esau have I
hated. Jacob have I loved, but Esau
have I hated. And I know people will say that
just doesn't seem right. Well, it is right because that's
who God is. And his hatred's not like our
hatred. When we hate somebody, it's evil. It's evil. When God hates somebody,
it's because he's just right, holy, and true. And it's right. And as far as that goes, can
you see why God would hate you? Can you? Can you see why God
would hate you? You know, I'm so sure of this. I'm not amazed by him hating
Esau, because I can see why he would hate and despise me. I'm
amazed at his love for Jacob. What mercy, what grace, what
a glorious God. We're bound to thank God always
for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from
the beginning chosen you to salvation. Now, election is true. God hath from the beginning chosen
you. It's true, it's what the Bible
teaches. Somebody says, I don't see it in the Bible, then you're
not looking. Because it's clear in the scriptures. God hath chosen
you. Election is eternal. God hath
from the beginning chosen you. This choice was made before the
creation of the world. Behold, I've loved you with an
everlasting love. Elections true, elections eternal,
elections personal. God hath from the beginning chosen
you. And Election is unto salvation. He hath chosen you unto salvation. Now, I think it's interesting
how a lot of people will dismiss election and say, well, that's
talking about choosing nations. Well, if it's bad to choose individuals,
it seems like it'd be worse to choose nations, don't you think?
As a matter of fact, what are nations but individuals in a
in a big group. It's personal and it's unto salvation. God hath chosen, God hath from
the beginning chosen you to salvation. But look at this. Don't stop
there. Through sanctification of the
spirit and belief of the truth. Now, if He's chosen you, here's
what's gonna happen. You're gonna be sanctified by
God, the Holy Spirit, because Christ died for your sins, and
He's gonna give you a new nature. And what is the evidence of that
new nature, that sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit? Belief
of the truth. Sanctification of the Spirit
and belief of the truth. Where there's sanctification
of the Spirit, the saving, supernatural work of the Holy Spirit, what's
the evidence? Belief of the truth. What's the
cause of belief of the truth? The sanctification of the spirit.
The Lord said in John 17, 17, sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is truth. Verse 14,
where unto he called you by our gospel. What's he called by? Our gospel. the gospel that saves,
the gospel of scripture. Boy, it's a blessing when the
gospel becomes my gospel, isn't it? It's what's good news to
me. He called you by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, brethren, Now don't
miss that obtaining the glory thou hast given me, I've given
them. That's what Jesus Christ our Redeemer says to every believer. The obtaining of the glory of
our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore brethren, stand fast. Don't be moved by these men that
try to deceive you. Stand fast. and hold the traditions
which you've been taught, whether by word or our epistle, by what
we've preached or by the epistles we've written, inspired by the
Holy Spirit now. Our Lord Jesus Christ himself.
Isn't that glorious? Our Lord Jesus Christ himself.
And God, even our Father, which hath loved us Now, once again, if that means
ever man to, if the us is ever man, that makes his love meaningless. If he can love somebody may wind
up in hell. What good did his love do them? This is talking
about his saving love to his elect. Now, our Lord Jesus Christ
himself, and even God, our father, which has loved us and has given
us everlasting consolation. A consolation that began in eternity
and will continue through eternity. And a good hope, not a false
hope, but a good hope. And here's the only good hope
there is, a good hope through grace. A good hope through grace. A lot of folks have a hope that's
not a good hope. It's not a well-grounded hope. The only well-grounded hope is
a hope that's in grace. A good hope by grace, the saving
grace of God. Comfort your hearts. Now, if you hear a message and you're
left looking to yourself, you're not hearing the gospel. A gospel
message comforts. Even if it rebukes, it still
comforts. If you leave a message thinking,
well, I must be missing something. I must be lacking something.
Well, I'd say you probably didn't hear the gospel, because the
gospel always comforts. Comfort your heart and establish
you in every good word, word of the gospel and every good
work, anything done out of love to Christ for his glory. Now, free will. It's as natural to
men to think, sure, I've got a free will. I do what I want
to. Yes, you do what you want to, but there is no such thing
as free will. It's an absurdity. Your will
is controlled by your nature. And for someone to say I have
a free will is the same thing as saying I'm not a sinner. That
part of my nature is okay. And it is the message of anti-Christ
religion. Thank God for the gospel of his
will being everything in salvation. And as far as that goes, the
essence of sin is my will. The essence of holiness is thy
will, not mine, be done. Let's pray. Lord, in Christ's name, I ask
that you would take this message and bless it to our hearts and
use it to bring us to the feet of thy dear son. Lord, may we but touch the hem
of his garment by faith, through the preaching of your gospel. We thank you that salvation is
not according to our will, because we know if it was, number one,
you wouldn't get all the glory, and number two, we wouldn't be
saved. How we thank you that salvation is by thy will. In Christ's name we pray, amen.