Antichrist Unleashed

the point of this whole chapter is to bring comfort that's how it ends you see the final little benediction in verses 16 and 17 now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word the whole idea of talking to us through the text of this passage is to give us comfort this is about comforting us and that is really Paul's purpose all the way through his two letters to the Thessalonians go back to chapter 4 of first Thessalonians for a moment and you will find there that at the end of chapter 4 where he has talked about the rapture of the church which is the next event as we've learned on God's timetable at in anticipation of the fact that the Lord Himself verse 16 will descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of the Archangel with the trumpet of God and the dead in Christ will rise first and we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the lord in the air and so we shall always be with the Lord therefore comfort one another with these words so he is saying to them as you look at the future be comforted because the next event is the Lord is going to descend from heaven you're going to hear the voice of the Archangel the trumpet of God and the bodies of dead believers whose spirits are with the Lord their bodies will come out of the graves and then we who are alive will be gathered to meet the Lord in the air and will always be with the Lord that's the next event that's not when he comes to earth in judgment there's no judgment there at all that's what we call the snatching of the church or the rapture of believers this is this is our hope this is the next event that's going to happen as far as the Church of Jesus Christ is concerned there are no signs this is we call an imminent event it could happen at any time the Lord comes descends we meet him in the air the bodies of the Dead rise first and are joined to their spirits which are already with the Lord and then all of us are caught and changed on the way to heaven and he he takes us to the marriage supper of the lamb and to a time of rewards at his table be comforted no matter what you hear people talking about and there are a lot of doomsdayers running around a lot of them I am always amazed at how many people who purport to be sensible Christians are selling end time food stuffs so they can survive the tribulation I Got News for you if you're a believer you're not going to need to survive it you're not going to be there we're going to be taken out of this world it's a great way to scare people and raise money on a false pretense it's bad theology and it's deceptive but those of us who know the Word of God know that we are waiting for the Lord not to judge the world but to take us out of the world he began first Thessalonians in the first chapter did the Apostle Paul in verse 9 by saying that the Thessalonians had turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God and to wait for his son from heaven whom he raised from the dead that is Jesus who rescues us from the wrath to come we're waiting for Jesus to come we're waiting for him to come and gather us together with him forever and then at the end of chapter 2 he says essentially the same thing verse 19 who is our hope or joy or crown of exaltation is it not even you in the presence of our Lord at his coming you are our glory and joy the joy and ministry the rejoicing in ministry is going to be the gathering together of the saints when they're caught up to be with the Lord that is a wonderfully comforting reality and even at the end of chapter 3 he says that he wants the Lord to establish your hearts without blame in holiness before our God and father at the coming of the Lord Jesus with all his Holy Ones all of that puts and settled confidence and holiness as our comforting reality and then in Chapter four the rapture passage verse 18 ends therefore comfort one another with these words and then in Chapter five you have the day of the Lord after the rapture comes the day of the Lord the sequence is purposeful there there is the gathering together to the Lord in the air we're always with the Lord we're comforted by that then on earth when people verse three of chapter five are saying peace and safety destruction will come on them suddenly like labor pain upon a woman with child they will not escape but not you brother and you're not in darkness that the day would overtake you like a thief you're not going to be there believers are not going to be there we're all the sons of light and the sons of the day we're not of the night or of the darkness down to verse 9 God has not destined us for wrath but for obtaining salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep that is the very condition of believers at the rapture we will live together with him again verse 11 therefore comfort same word exactly comfort or encourage one another build up one another just as you are also doing so that is the point of all that the Apostle Paul writes about the coming of Christ the rapture and the day of the Lord for the believer to understand those things is to be comforted and that's as I said how Chapter two of second Thessalonians verse 17 ends there's another text that speaks to this and I would just read it to you Titus 2:11 the through thirteen the grace of God has appeared bringing salvation or deliverance or rescue same word to all men instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires live sensibly righteously and godly in the present age looking for the Blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Christ Jesus we're looking for Christ I know we have all these doomsdayers saying judgment is coming judgment is coming but the Bible tells us Christ is coming Christ is coming there are people who think that the the earth and all of those who are in it are going to literally go out of existence because of some environmental disaster some some melting of ice caps or some destruction of ozone or pollution of water or bacteria and viruses running wild over the face of the earth and we're gonna face that kind of doom there are there are people who are crying out on the political scene all the time that the most important issue we have to face is the effect of greenhouse gases and those kinds of things but all of that notwithstanding the future will for believers be very clear before judgment comes on the earth in the day of the Lord believers will be snatched out they're snatched out in chapter 4 of 1st Thessalonians the day of the Lord horrific judgment is described in chapter 5 where it will not be there we will not be there so we're looking for Christ we don't need to live in fear we need to live in comfort and hope and joy and love realizing that the same God who created the universe sustains the universe and he will consummate it according to the way that he has designed and he's laid it out for us he's going to snatch believers out and then is going to come judgment on the face of the earth in a time called the tribulation the last half of which is called the Great Tribulation it's all an explosion of satanic power and as well ends an explosion of divine judgment with the return of Christ and at that point he will remake the earth and its environment he will recreate the earth and its environs and set up his thousand-year kingdom at the end of which he'll literally destroy the entire universe and create a new heaven and a new earth which is the eternal state so as we look at the future it's all in God's hands it's all in God's hands so walk on the grass shoot a deer spray your hair go for now we have the answer to the future in the Word of God Paul wants to write the Thessalonians about the the joy of this coming rapture so look at verses 1 & 2 we now we request you brethren with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus even our gathering together to him I want to talk to you about the rapture he says I want to talk to you about the rapture that's what he means by the coming of our Lord Jesus who comes in the air and we gather up to him go to be with him forever and I want I want to write to you about this so that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or disturbed he doesn't want any believer to be disturbed about the future we do not need to be disturbed about the divine plan for the future we don't need to to be disturbed by eschatological issues we don't we don't need to fear that the last things the end of human history so Paul says to them you don't need to be quickly shaken from your composure or disturbed but they were they had become disturbed now why would you be disturbed if you had just been told that the Lord is going to deliver you from the wrath to come and then after that the day of the Lord will break out in the day of the Lord of course is laid out all through scripture Old Testament and new as the time of great massive judgment on the ungodly why would you be disturbed and lose your composure be shaken when when you knew that the rapture was going to happen first well apparently they had been shaken and disturbed by a spirit verse 2 or a message or a letter as if from us some false teachers had come and say em basically pretended to represent some some spirit divine spirit that they were going to give a message from heaven and that message from heaven was affirmed by a letter from Paul so they had put together this package of bad eschatology that the believers were headed for the day of the Lord in fact they told him they were in the day of the Lord and that's how they explained the persecution that they were going through so Paul has to correct them he wants to write them about the rapture he wants to comfort them in their persecution he wants them to live in hope and joy and love and so he needs to clarify this issue now one thing is very obvious it is unmistakably obvious and we've touched on it a couple of times obvious from all that Paul teaches and that is this that Paul expected believers to be snatched out of this world before the day of the Lord that is a pre judgment rapture or a pre-tribulation rapture someone had come along and was saying no you're in the day of the Lord as if there were no rapture or as if the rapture had been postponed or they had missed it or something but Paul wants to solve their confusion because they thought they thought they were in the day of the Lord a lot of people think that today they're called post strippers they think that the Lord is gonna take his people out after the events of the tribulation and the day of the Lord that's what the Thessalonians thought because of some deceivers who had tongue to solving their confusion and delaying their fears and confronting their lack of composure and being disturbed Paul clarifies for them that they have not missed the rapture and they are not in the day of the Lord not at all now as we look at this text I want to break it into some manageable points and Paul simply says this first of all don't be deceived we'll just say we'll start with point 1 don't be deceived verse 3 let no one in any way deceive you for it will not come that is the day of the Lord mentioned in verse 2 the day of the Lord this this consummate final judgment the day of the Lord will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness or the man of sin is revealed the son of destruction do not be deceived do not be deceived deception is creating anxiety it's creating fear do not be deceived by bad theology let me tell you something bad eschatology is bad theology and bad eschatology is deception bad eschatology is perhaps as common or more common than any other category of theology that gets misrepresented it's a major effort of Satan to cause believers to live in fear because they think they're going to go through this day of the Lord experience and so they live in fear storing up like these doomsdayers to survive divine wrath that is deception do not be deceived secondly do not be forgetful and we're reviewing for a minute it will not come until the unless the apostasy comes first verse 3 and the man of lawlessness is revealed the son of destruction who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called God or object of worship so that he takes his seat in the temple of God displaying himself as being God do you not remember that while I was still with you I was telling you these things so second point don't be forgetful don't be forgetful I was telling you these things while I was still with you don't you remember that I told you the gathering of the Saints comes first the rapture the catching away of believers meeting the Lord in the air going to heaven and there is the marriage supper of the Lamb described in Revelation there is the rewards to the believers who have gathered around the Lord and we will always be with the Lord so we're out before the day of the Lord comes I told you this I told you about the rapture I told you about the day of the Lord the coming judgement but I also told you that the day of the Lord will be marked by the man of lawlessness the son of destruction dominating the world and by an event he calls the apostasy the apostasy and Paul says you can't be in the day of the Lord because the apostasy has to come first and the man of lawlessness has to be revealed the son of destruct that that has to be in place before the day of the Lord explodes in its full fury that has not happened now what does he mean the apostasy we talked about it already I'll just give you a brief review it is the apostasy it literally means the defection it is an event clearly and specifically identifiable by the descriptive D it is the specific apostasy the consummate act of rebellion an event a final magnitude to identify the event we must identify the person connected to the event the man of lawlessness the son of destruction so you're not in the day of the Lord unless there has been the rise of the Antichrist the man of lawlessness the son of destruction and in the middle of that period of time there will be this ultimate apostasy this event that triggers the final explosion divine wrath in the latter half of that day of the Lord tribulation the Antichrist is going to do that act you can see it very clearly look at verse 4 the apostasy involves the man of lawlessness the son of destruction and this is what he does he opposes and exalts himself above every so-called God or object of worship so that he takes his seat in the temple of God displaying himself as being God this is what the Antichrist will do in that period of time called the tribulation he will enter the temple he will desecrate the temple he will blaspheme the temple he will blaspheme the true God this is all described back in Daniel as well as in the book of Revelation it is even referred to by our Lord in Matthew 24:15 this is what Daniel calls the abomination of desolation in that future time the time when Antichrist has taken a rule over the world he will go into the temple at the beginning of the seven years he will come with peace he comes as rider on a white horse in Revelation six no arrows to bow it's a peaceful kind of conquering he makes a pact according to Daniel Lyon with the nation Israel to protect Israel he is a global leader he is a world leader and he looks like a world Savior he looks like a protector of Israel and once his power is sealed and settled in the middle of that seven-year period he commits the abomination of desolation he turns on Israel begins to slaughter Israel all hell breaks loose loose he'll belches out demons who have been bound since way back in Genesis the earth is overrun by the forces of Satan and Antichrist sets himself up in the temple of God as if he is God this is the ultimate blasphemy of the ultimate Antichrist the Thessalonians cannot be in the day of the Lord there is no great global global leader there is no one who has made a pact with Israel and certainly there is no blasphemous apostasy by that man of lawlessness you're not in the day of the Lord so if you want to look hopefully and joyfully to Christ's return don't be deceived by false teachers with bad eschatology and don't be forgetful of what the scripture says and that's what I told you thirdly don't be ignorant this is a very important portion don't be ignorant to be certain his readers are not ignorant of Antichrist he does some very interesting things does Paul he gives us four features of the career of Antichrist four features and it's really remarkable in its general sense and also as you kind of spread it out a little bit over these four points and I'll show you what I mean there are four features of the Antichrist career number one is his revelation let's look at verse 6 and you know what restrains him now so that in his time he will be revealed he's talking about his revelation we used the word revealed there in verse 6 he used it of the Antichrist a man of lawlessness in verse 3 he will be revealed it was used it again verse 8 the lowest one will be revealed so there is a revelation you could say there is an incarnation there is an incarnation he will be revealed but not now you know what restrains him now so that in his time he will be revealed you know that it he is being restrained now how did they know that because Paul had taught them that when he was with him important information for them the Antichrist had not come and could not come until his time because he was subject to that which restrains him now holds him down holds him back suppresses him katako in the greek so you ask at this point what what is holding him back what is the restraining him I would assume that Satan would have liked to have had the Antichrist here long ago perhaps he would have wanted the Antichrist to be some some Caesar immediately after the career of Jesus Christ to come and do Satan's horrific work but Satan was restrained it didn't happen perhaps some great murderous Conqueror through human history but Satan could never do that because he was restrained from doing that perhaps Adolf Hitler was Satan's next and most familiar effort at least to us to bring about a Satan incarnated evil man to become the final Antichrist but even he couldn't pull it off he was restrained or any other of the kinds of people like Stalin or Hitler or anybody else who is a murderous leader but they're all held back it hasn't happened we haven't seen Antichrist we haven't seen a global leader who rules the world by peace who makes a pact with Israel to be their protector violates the pact sets himself up as God in the temple of God something's holding this back something is preventing Satan doing this what is it some people think it's preaching the gospel that Matthew 24:14 says the gospel has to be preached then Christ will comes it has to be preached to the ends of the earth so is it the preaching of the gospel that is holding Satan back some have suggested it is some kind of special binding of Satan well Satan is bound in the Millennial Kingdom for a thousand years but he's obviously not bound now because he goes around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour some people think it's the church because in Matthew five 13 and 14 says the church is to be solved in light well salt and light are not restraints salt is the preservation and light is the truth the symbol of the truth and righteousness so God in His people has preserved truth and righteousness in the world but that's not the same as restraining evil in fact the Bible is clear that evil men are getting worse and worse evil is escalating so the church is obviously the greatest blessing in the world because there is the embodiment of gospel saving truth but the church can't be the restrainer some people have suggested based on Romans 13 that government is the restrainer the government is restraining Satan that's not true there's no effort made on the part of the government to deal with supernatural entities at all some people think it's the principle of law and morality that's in the fabric of culture and in the human heart some commentators years ago used to think it was the Roman Empire but that isn't even around anymore and Michael the Archangel has been suggested based on his work back in Daniel but none of those really work because neither Angels nor people whether individual people or people collectively can stop Satan we can't control Satan Michael found that out as it's recorded in the ninth verse of Jude they're all human efforts or angelic efforts no human effort can Rane Satan there's only one in the universe who can restrain Satan who is it keep it in mind the devil is God's devil he never goes beyond the boundaries that God permits the power that holds back Satan from bringing the Antichrist and final apostasy is the lord himself so there's a power in operation that holds back Satan's plan the man of sin cannot come until that restraining power is released the Thessalonians knew that so they should have known they were not in the day of the Lord because the Antichrist had not yet appeared the reason for the restraint back to the same verse the reason for the restraint his so verse 6 says that in his time he may be revealed and gods appointed at time job 42 - when Jove had learned his lesson he said no purpose of yours can be thwarted in Isaiah 46:10 my purpose says God will be accomplished not Satan not demons not human forces not devilish plan or purpose can operate until God allows it God's plan and God's power control everything evil will never pass beyond God's limits he will be revealed in the time his time God has appointed now this is very interesting because you remember galatians 4:4 says that christ came and it says this way when the fullness of time was come when the fullness of time came God sent forth his son there was in the plan of God a time for the Incarnate son of God to come Jews had waited centuries and centuries and centuries and centuries but he only came in God's time and so God as he ordained the time for his son the Incarnate son of God to come God has ordained a time for the appearing of the man in whom Satan lives his appearing is set by God's plan [Music] now get the picture Satan wants basically to copy Christ to have a human being supernaturally empowered his false Christ's pseudo Christ Antichrist but he will not come until God's time is fulfilled now look at verse 7 however for the mystery of lawlessness is already at work only he who now restrains will do so until he has taken out of the way that is not to say there isn't lawlessness he is the man of lawlessness he is the final ultimate embodiment of lawlessness that's just a long word for sin rebellion against God that man of sin that man in whom Satan dwells that man who is like ten thousand Hitler's that man has not come but lawlessness is already at work because as John says in first John 4:3 there are now many Antichrist and the spirit of Antichrist is everywhere whoever denies that Jesus come in the flesh that is an antichrist so Antichrist lawlessness is everywhere but the mystery of lawlessness what is that that's the unrevealed aspect of lawlessness when you see the word mystery we're not talking about Agatha Christie or something like that mysterion in the Greek means something hidden not yet revealed the gospel of the New Testament is ISM is the mystery in the sense that it wasn't fully revealed in the Old Testament the rapture the church is called a mystery it wasn't revealed in the Old Testament the believer has in Christ that's a mystery revealed in the New Testament Paul is a an apostle of the mysteries of things hidden in the past that are now revealed the resurrection is a mystery that is now revealed so the mystery the the the hidden reality of the revelation of Antichrist has not yet come but the mystery of lawlessness is already at work lawlessness is unfolding all around us 2nd Timothy 3:13 evil men get worse and worse that's been true since our our lord's time and that's why the apostle paul said it's starting then people get worse and worse and worse so the mystery of lawlessness that is to say the unfolding revelation of evil at a massive level by the way evil grows fast and far that's why by the time you get to 6 7 and 8th chapter of Genesis got to destroy the whole entire world because evil was so rampant evil now has regenerated again when the eight people came out of the ark they were sinful and evil has been basically spreading since they stepped on dry land wickedness lies Apocrypha false doctrines sins of every kind all of it is operating now and that's what he means in verse 7 it's everywhere Antichrist SAR many and they are everywhere lawlessness is everywhere only verse 7 he who now restrains will do so until he's taken out of the way the Antichrist hasn't come yet the spirit of Antichrist yes first John 2:18 already in operation but the man who finally embodies that spirit in a consummate way and rules the entire world is not yet revealed because he who now restrains will do so until he has removed taken out of the way ech may sue taken out of the way is what it means we face then the what is this power well I just said it's divine and the best best answer as to who it is is the Holy Spirit he's the divine one who strives with sinners in Genesis 6 he's the divine one who convicts of sin and righteousness and judgment until the Holy Spirit gets out of the way the Antichrist cannot come now that doesn't mean please that the Holy Spirit leaves the world first of all that's impossible because he's omniscient omnipresent he knows everything he is everywhere so he's not going to leave the world furthermore there's gonna be a massive revival during the seven-year tribulation in Revelation says people will be converted saved from every tongue tribe nation people massive innumerable millions of people converted the nation Israel converted 144,000 Jews 12,000 from every tribe become the evangelists and preach the gospel nobody could believe nobody could be regenerated nobody could be born again if there weren't a holy spirit present because that's all the work of the Holy Spirit so the work of salvation sanctification even the spread of the gospel is the work of the Spirit so it doesn't mean that there's no Holy Spirit here that would not be possible what it does mean is that he stops the restraining work holding back Satan he's restraining Satan from sending Antichrist but when the time comes and that Christ will show up he will show up at the beginning of the week and as I said like on a write writing on a white horse with a bow and no arrows he conquers it doesn't take long before all kinds of judgment breaks out he becomes the Covenant protector of Israel Daniel 9 says signs a pact with Israel to protect them does the very opposite blasphemes God and goes after Israel to slaughter all the Jews he can so the Holy Spirit is the one who deals with sin he's restraining Satan from full final lawlessness in the form of the ultimate Antichrist this one who restrains is the Holy Spirit the one he restrains is the Antichrist the sense of this entire passage just as we look at it seems to be this Satan while perfectly aware of the fact that he cannot become incarnate he cannot become incarnate nevertheless he would like to imitate the second person of the Trinity in this respect as far as possible the second person of the Trinity became a man the Lord Jesus Christ Satan wants a man he wants a man over whom he can have absolute and complete control he wants a man who will perform his will as thoroughly as Jesus performed his father's will but as yet the devil is frustrated in his attempt to put his plan into operation because he is being held back held back by the Holy Spirit until the divinely decreed moment when the restrainer verse 7 is taken out of the way as soon as that happens verse 8 then that lawless one will be revealed then that lawless one will be revealed when the Holy Spirit steps the side of sets aside that restraining power swiftly fierce fierce satanic work begins it's described in revelation 6 through 19 that whole section and it begins with the lawless one the revealed mentioned for the third time his revelation and we've already seen his career previous weeks in Daniel and revelation so we're not going to go back to and look at that but just to grab Paul's words here we start by looking at his revelation in God's time secondly as we think of his career is his destruction look at verse eight whom the Lord will slay with the breath of his mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of his coming just as the revelation of the Antichrist is set according to God's timetable so is his destruction his Dominion will be remarkable Daniel 726 says his Dominion literally will be taken away even though it's a global Dominion he will be taken away annihilated and destroyed forever or in the language of Revelation in 1711 talking about the Antichrist it basically says the Beast goes to destruction or in the language of Daniel 11:45 he will come to his end no one will help him in other words slay could be translated overthrow or literally make an end of that's it's a broader thing than just death it does encompass that but it's the end of his entire Dominion again that's the language of Daniel 7 his Dominion will be taken away annihilated and destroyed forever and then in addition to that to the end of his Dominion will come the end of his life and he will be brought to an end that means destroyed katar yeah abolished destroyed he will kill the man after he overthrows his global Dominion how does he do that by the word the of his mouth he speaks him into judgment Satan's false Christ a counterfeit of the Lord Jesus Christ he has a parousia he has a revelation like Jesus did a revelation he has a message for the world it is a lie it is deception he can do powers and signs and wonders and even has a false resurrection he has a massive impact on people he is a supernatural person because the supernatural person is working through him this is a false Christ with a false revelation a false message false supernatural power false resurrection and he comes to a quick end when does it happen back to that same verse verse 8 he's brought to an end by the appearance of his coming his end is when Jesus shows up this is an this is a visible encounter with the glorious Lord Jesus who will paralyze the daring presumption and arrogant activity of this lawless one this is so powerful a reality that I want to read you the description of it at the end of Revelation 19 Christ comes heaven opens a white horse he who sits on it as faithful and true he judges wages war his eyes are flame of fire his head as many diadem's he has a name written which no one knows except himself he's clothed with a robe dipped in blood his name is called the Word of God and the armies which are in heaven clothed in fine linen white and clean following him on white horses from his mouth comes a sharp sword so that with it he may strike down the nation's and rule them with a rod of that's the breath of his mouth on his robe and on his thigh a name king of kings and Lord of lords I saw an angel standing on the Sun says John and the vision crying to all the birds of heaven come assemble to the great supper of God that you meet the flesh of kings the flesh of commanders the flesh of mighty men the flesh of horses those who sit on them the flesh of all men both freemen and slaves a small and great this is the final judgment of sinners on this earth I saw that the Antichrist and the kings of the earth and the armies assembled to make war against him who sat on the horse and against his army in the Antichrist it's going to try to make war on the returning Christ and the Beast the Antichrist was seized with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped His image these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of him who sat on the horse and all the birds were filled with their flesh there's not an actual sword out of his mouth but his very breath kills the Lord literally kills the ungodly kills the Antichrist the false prophet sends them all to hell so you see his revelation and you see his destruction the third thing you see about Antichrist here is his power when he is functioning verse 9 that is the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan activities the word in air gap from which we get energy or power what he does he does in the power of Satan with all power and signs and false wonders he operates in satanic power he does power signs and wonders power Dunamis supernatural actions signs Samiha which basically means it's a sign this power act is a sign pointing to his supernatural nature and produces wonder astonishing results so this Antichrist will do some astonishing things mighty acts I don't think we can simply say that they're fake all the forces of hell supernatural forces can do amazing things supernatural things like the magician's of Pharaoh by the way all three of those words power signs and wonders marked the Ministry of Jesus Christ so here's the false Christ he has his own revelation he has his own message he has his own signs has one of those signs is a false resurrection Satan's power is limited but it is supernatural and he uses it for his works read 13th chapter of Revelation and you can see what he does there false not in the sense that they're not supernatural but in the sense that they support a lie they're false in the sense that they support a lie when it says at the end of verse 9 with false wonders that explains what it means in verse 10 and with all the deception of wickedness all deceptive wickedness it's a lie everything that he does is a lie and at the same time remember he sets himself up in the temple as God and the world believes he's God and the world takes its his mark this whole operation is a lie false deceptive luring people to believe that the Antichrist is Christ that the power behind the Antichrist is God that Antichrist is God's man that he is the world's Savior that he is the one who should be worshipped and every hellish supernatural ploy Satan has will be used to achieve that deception and finally a word about his influence verse 10 we saw his revelation his destruction his power his influence all of this deception of wickedness is for those who perish because they didn't receive the love of the truth so as to be saved Antichrist malevolent influence will be on all those who are perishing those who are perishing is the category first Corinthians 1:18 says the gospel is foolishness to those who are perishing those who are on their way to hell the unregenerate the ones who believe lies the children of Satan john 8 jesus said I tell you the truth you don't believe because your other father the devil who's a liar from the beginning and you believe lies this is the group of people who have succumbed to Satan's deception the entire world with the exception of those who have believed the gospel or under his influence and why are they under his influence because they didn't receive the love of the truth so as to be saved they didn't receive the love of the truth so as to be saved that that phrase the love of the truth is so wonderful they didn't receive the love of the truth so as to be saved they heard the truth of the truth will be preached and during that time of the reign of Antichrist he preached in heaven by flying angels it'll be preached by 144,000 Jews it'll be preached in Jerusalem by the two witnesses who who are killed it'll be preached to the ends of the earth there will be people who hear the truth but don't love the truth so as to be saved just mark that okay hearing the truth is not enough loving the truth what does that mean preferring it above everything else loving the truth means you sell everything to buy the treasure in the field and the pearl of great price the love of the truth used only here that's the phrase only here in all of Scripture and here the gospel is at our hands the truth of the gospel they gave it no welcome they gave it no love God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life but to those who did not believe he brought judgment same John three they refused to repent they refused to believe they refused to follow this is the condition of unbelief that loves sin loves not Christ if any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ let him be damned 1st Corinthians 16:22 they choose not to believe so they come under the full influence of Antichrist and they are not saved the results of this win at willful unbelief look at verse 11 the results of this willful unbelief for this reason because they do not love the truth so as to be saved for this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false because of willful unbelief and rejection of the gospel refusal to love and obey the truth that saves there is a severe divine recompense the people alive at that time who will not believe who will not love the truth God will send upon them this is amazing a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false that's a divine judgment what a thought the sovereign power of God acting to seal their eternal fate this is like Pharaoh right Exodus 8 9 Pharaoh hardened his heart God hardened his heart Pharaoh hardened his heart God hardened his heart you harden your heart that's your choice God will harden your heart sealing your eternal damnation proverbs 5:22 says his own iniquities will capture the wicked and he will be held with the cords of his own sin judgment falls on that hardness and God sends a deluding influence a force of deception a force of delusion so that they believe the lie a lie of Satan about Antichrist so judgment comes in the form of an inability to see the truth and inability to love the truth and inability to be saved and they are judicially sentenced by God to accept only Satan's lies they will deliberately choose falsehood and the time will come when they can not choose anything but falsehood thus thus God used Satan and the Antichrist as instruments to punish the perishing who have refused to love the truth first kings 20:2 talks about the Lord putting a deceiving spirit in the mouth of false prophets 1st chronicles 21 talks about Satan being used by God to move David to number Israel God does not delude them into unbelief but punishes them for willful unbelief by sealing their eternal destiny refusing the truth they are turned over to damning lies the sinner refuses light chooses darkness darkness he shall have he hardens his heart hardened it shall be he refuses to love the truth evil he will receive a lying spirit and he will love lies spurns eternal life he will have eternal death in all ages those who persist in sin will find eventually they won't be able to escape that choice so perishing people hate reject the saving gospel refused to love Christ rather love sin will not believe the truth but believe lies will not follow God but follow seyton eventually unless they repent they will not have a choice this is the Antichrist that this is his career and this is the future but we're not looking for Antichrist right if you want to live in joy and love and hope then you need to be looking for Christ who will deliver us from the wrath to come father we thank you for your truth we love your truth you have opened our hearts to make that a reality we thank you we thank you that you have chosen us from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the spirit and faith in the truth we thank you that you called us through the gospel to gain the glory of our Lord Jesus we have no fear about the future we have no fear about death we have no future fear about the future of what happens to this planet it's all in your hands you made it you sustained it and you'll bring it to its end you gave us a detailed description of the creation you've given us a chronicle of your sovereign working through all of human history you've told us how it will all end in detail the rapture then the day of the Lord and even during that period with horrific judgments coming on the earth many will be saved then you return with those you raptured set up your earthly Kingdom you remake the earth into an eden-like paradise once again you reign from Jerusalem with your people for a thousand years after which you destroy the entire universe and create a new heaven and a new earth in which righteousness dwells forever for you and your Saints this is pre written history Lord where do we say to you of gratitude and Thanksgiving for giving us this gift of forgiveness of sins and salvation and love of the truth we have new life in Christ we follow Christ not Antichrist we follow the one who is God incarnate revealed in your time who lived a perfect sinless life died a substitutionary death and rose again for the forgiveness and justification salvation and glorification of his people thank you for the true Christ may the glory of Christ be spread across the earth even now may you gather in your people and may you come to gather us to yourself soon we're ready and eager but not until you've gathered all those whom you love and for whom you died do that Lord for your glory we pray amen

Channel: Grace to You

Views: 226,382

Rating: 4.6961255 out of 5

Keywords: John MacArthur, Bible, Preaching, Christianity, Expository, Exposition, Sermon, Jesus, Christ, end times prophecy

Id: 9gcHKqT22Mc

Length: 54min 25sec (3265 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 04 2019