Look at verse number 8 where the Bible read.
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.
And the title of the sermon this morning is The Antichrist Revealed.
The Antichrist Revealed.
Now in chapter number 2 of 2 Thessalonians, we learn a lot of information and it's very
clear.
It's very straightforward, but unfortunately there's many churches today that would just
reject the obvious teachings from 2 Thessalonians chapter number 2.
And if we back up to verse number 1, we're going to learn when is this Antichrist revealed.
Who is this guy?
What is the timing of this guy being revealed?
According to the Bible, there will be a time when that wicked is revealed.
Look at verse number 1, the Bible says, Now we beseech you brethren, by the coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken
in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter, as from us, as
that the day of Christ is at hand.
So these first two sentences, these first two verses, tell us that we should not just
expect Christ to come at any time.
That it's not just about to happen.
He's giving a warning, but today there's a doctrine known as eminence, the imminent return
of Christ.
In fact, in pulpits right now, this morning, in Dallas-Fort Worth, pastors are saying,
Hey, Jesus Christ could come back before this sermon's over.
And they're getting all kinds of, Amen, Amen, I can't wait, you know.
But is that really true?
Is that really what the Bible is teaching?
Well, I got a quote from an online website, it's pretty popular.
The site, though, is very disorganized, so I'm not surprised that it got this wrong,
but it's JesusIsSavior.com.
If you're gone to this site, I mean, this thing is crazy.
But he says, well, no one knows for certain when the Lord will return, but the new world
order is upon us, and all signs point to the coming of the Antichrist.
So then he says, the Bible clearly states, Watch therefore, for you know neither the
day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh.
So he says, because we have this great, you know, apostasy, because we have the new world
order, we know that there's a pre-tribulation rapture, and you say, Why?
Because that verse in Matthew 25 says that we don't know the day or the hour, so it could
just happen at any time, is kind of the argument.
Well, go to Matthew 25, let's look at this quote, and let's understand this for a moment.
But the Bible says, The legs of the lame are not equal, so is a parable in the mouth of
fools.
You know, a lot of people, when they want to teach their false doctrine, their clear
verse is a parable.
Their clear instruction is a parable, and they don't even understand the parable, and
they have to try to use dark sayings and mysterious things in the Bible to try and explain their
false doctrines.
Now, when it comes to a pre-tribulation rapture, there is no verse, zero verses, that say that
the rapture will happen before the tribulation.
None.
Whenever I grew up in church, I was always taught this doctrine.
I had heard this doctrine so many different times, and basically to me, the strongest
support of evidence was the argument of silence.
But guess what?
God does not instruct us through silence, he instructs us through his word, through
clear revelation, through the things that come out of his mouth.
But in the parable in Matthew 25, it's about ten virgins.
Let's understand this parable before we get into the meat of the sermon.
But it says in verse 1,
Now let me help you out.
You say, what is this talking about?
It's talking about five saved people and five unsaved people, and we're going to prove
that as we continue reading, but look at verse 3.
They that were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil
in their vessels with their lamps.
So when the Bible tries to tell us what's the difference between the wise and the foolish,
there's only one difference.
It's the fact that some have oil and some do not have oil.
Now they all have lamps, okay?
So you say, well, how do we understand this parable?
We compare spiritual with spiritual.
We know many things from the Bible.
The Bible says that the Word of God is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path.
So what is the lamp?
Let me help you out.
It's the Bible.
And look, if you go to churches today, they all have a Bible in their hands.
You know what?
You can't use that Bible unless you understand it, and you know what?
You can't use that lamp unless you have some oil in it.
So what does the oil represent in the Bible?
It represents the Holy Ghost.
And when someone believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, the Bible teaches that they're sealed
with that Holy Spirit of promise in Ephesians chapter number 1.
So now they have the Holy Ghost.
Now they can understand the Bible.
Now they can use the Bible.
If you don't have oil in your lamp, your lamp is useless.
Look, an unsaved person with the Bible, it's useless.
It's a foolish virgin.
They don't know what they're doing.
Let's keep reading in this.
Go actually to 1 John chapter 1.
Keep your finger here, but go to 1 John chapter 1.
Let's get another verse on this.
But the Bible says in Ephesians 1 that we're sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which
is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the perch's possession under
the praise of his glory.
The Bible teaches that when you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you're sealed with
the Holy Spirit of promise.
What's the promise?
The promise is the fact that God will redeem your body at some point in the future.
Now what was the point of these virgins?
Well, these virgins are getting oil for what?
They're waiting for their husband to come and to marry them.
It's the same picture.
It's the same fact that when you put down the earnest, you're intending to purchase
whatever it is that you put your money down.
You say, hey, I want to buy a house.
Most contracts today require you to put some level of earnest money down on the property
before you buy it, saying, hey, I'm serious.
I'm not just flipping about this.
I'm really going to come and I'm going to purchase that property later.
And what God has done unto us to say, you know what, when we believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, our physical body changes zero.
But he says, you know what, I'll give you the Holy Ghost just to let you know that I
am going to redeem your body at one point in the future.
Look at 1 John chapter 2, verse number 26.
These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you, but the anointing which
you have received of him abideth in you.
And ye need not that any man teach you, but as the same anointing teacheth you of all
things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide
in him, and now, little children, abide in him, that when he shall appear, we may have
confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born
of him.
Now, in the context of 1 John chapter number 2, it's not really contrasting the saved
and the unsaved.
He's really contrasting Christians that are actually living a godly life.
We could take a secondary application in the fact that those who do not have the Holy Ghost,
who are not saved, will be ashamed of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
But even people that are saved, those that don't prepare themselves, those that aren't
serving him, those that aren't abiding in the word of God, they're not letting the Holy
Ghost fill them up and to be a spiritual Christian, they're going to be ashamed when Christ comes.
And he notices that they're just getting drunk with the wicked and they're just slumbering
and they're doing nothing.
They're going to be ashamed when Christ comes.
Just like when a child is doing something wrong and the parents creep in, they're ashamed
when their parents walk in through the door.
We don't want to be like that at Christ's coming.
Go back to Matthew 25.
Look at verse number 5.
The Bible says,
While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh.
Go ye out to meet him.
Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps.
So what's the difference between these virgins?
Some were sleeping, some were not.
No, they're all slumbering.
Right?
They all don't know what's happening.
Then there's a cry made and the bridegroom's coming and the virgins that have oil, they
go out to meet their husband.
They go out to meet what the symbolism here is, Christ.
Look at verse number 8.
And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil, for our lamps are gone out.
But the wise answered, saying, Not so, lest there be not enough for us and you.
But go ye rather to them that sell and buy for yourselves.
And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came.
And they that were ready went in with them to the marriage, and the door was shut.
Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.
But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.
Four words you never want to have Christ say to you.
I know you not.
So you see, the people that were ready, when Christ came, they're with him.
The people that are not ready, he's going to say to them, I know you not.
Saying look, there's an opportunity to get saved, you need to get saved now.
And it's foolish to delay getting the oil.
You know, you talk to some people when you go out door knocking and you preach them the
gospel.
Well, I think I need some more time to think about it.
Yeah, maybe I'm not ready right now to believe all that or put my faith in Jesus Christ.
It's foolish.
You need to get that oil right now.
You need to get the oil in your lamp so you're ready for the coming of Christ.
But let's prove that it's talking about the saved.
Go to Luke, chapter number 13.
I'm kind of laying a foundation before we get into the portions of the antichrist.
But it's important to understand that the imminency doctrine is a false doctrine.
It has many negative consequences when you believe that Christ could come at any moment
or you have this apathetic viewpoint towards the world because you're just sitting there
waiting for Christ to come.
You're just looking at the clock, you're just watching the grass grow, you're just watching
the pot of boiling water boil.
You know, we ought to continue to strive and do works for the Lord so that we won't be
ashamed before Matt is coming.
Look at Luke 13, verse 23.
Then said one unto them, Lord, are there few that be saved?
And he said unto them, Strive to enter into the strait gate, for many I say unto you
will seek to enter in and shall not be able.
When once the master of the house has risen up and has shut to the door, and you begin
to stand without and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us.
And he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not, whence ye are.
Look at verse 26.
Then shall you begin to say, We have eaten and drunken in thy presence, and thou hast
taught in our streets.
But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not, whence ye are.
Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.
We went to church on Sunday morning.
We had the fellowships.
I had a Bible in my hand.
I don't know you.
Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity.
Go to Matthew chapter number seven.
We see the same parallel, right?
These people are coming, they're saying, Lord, but they didn't enter in the strait gate.
Now the Bible has the word strait, s-t-r-a-i-t, that means narrow.
It's not the fact, obviously we don't believe it's a crooked path either, but what the Bible's
emphasizing in the fact that there's one way to heaven, that's Christ.
You can't enter in any other way.
And there's many people, they want to enter into the kingdom of heaven another way.
They're trying to knock down the wall, they're trying to make their own path, they're trying
to find a different solution in order to enter into heaven, but there's only one.
The blood of Jesus Christ.
Putting your faith in Jesus Christ alone for your salvation.
If you want to work your way to heaven, you're going to keep digging at that door and never
get in.
And Christ is going to eventually say, I know you not.
When he shut the door, you can't open it.
Look at Matthew chapter seven verse 21.
Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter in the kingdom of heaven, but
he that doeth the will of my Father, which is in heaven.
Many will say to me that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in
thy name have cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works?
And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you.
Depart from me, ye that work, iniquity.
So the Bible just keeps ringing true, and you say, well, these people didn't do the
will of the Father.
Well, if you look up in John chapter six verse 40, it tells us, and this is the will of him
that sent me, that everyone would seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may I have everlasting
life, and I will raise him up to the last day.
These people did not trust Christ for their salvation.
They thought that going to church by preaching, by doing wonderful works, they were getting
into heaven.
But the Bible says, for by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves.
It is the gift of God, not of works.
If you try to look to your works, you are unsaved every single time.
And there's many.
You say, do you really think that's true, Pastor Shelley?
Yeah.
If you went sowing with this yesterday, you'd realize that most of the doors we knock in,
they say, hey, I'm going to heaven because I'm a good person.
I've turned over a new leaf.
I've repented of my sins.
I've turned for my wicked ways.
Oh, Christ, we've done all these wonderful works.
We preached in your name.
We prophesied of you.
We have a Bible.
I went to church.
I go to church.
Somebody we talked to, she said, you know what, I just know I'm going to heaven because
I always do that, which is right, and I had a heart transplant when I was two.
Look, that's not the way to heaven.
Look, there's some weird ideas out there how to get to heaven, okay?
You go out and ask people with me.
But you see, what's the problem with these people?
Let's keep reading in this verse.
It says in verse 24, therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them,
I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock.
And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house,
and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock.
And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened
unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand, and the rain descended, and
the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell, and great was
the fall of it.
Now what is the difference between the wise and the foolish?
The foundation.
Because if you study this, you know what?
They both build a house.
You know, if we look at many people that are unsaved today, many people that go to a church,
they do lots of works.
They go to the church.
They help out of the church.
They give money to the church.
They're doing all these kinds of works.
They're building a house.
The problem is their house is built on the sand.
They think that their works are going to get them saved, and they're going to soon
find out they needed to build that house on the rock.
So what made them wise?
The foundation.
And what's the foundation according to the Bible?
Jesus Christ.
Believing on the Lord Jesus Christ and being saved.
So if we go back to Matthew 25 now, let's understand verse 13.
This verse that teaches the eminency of Christ.
He could come back at any time, at any moment.
Look at verse 13.
Watch, therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour when the Son of Man cometh.
Now did that teach that Christ can come at any moment?
What is it teaching?
It's teaching that you need to be careful and make sure that you're saved.
Because you don't even know when your last breath is.
You know it's more likely your last breath than Christ even coming.
And you know what?
You need to have oil and your lamps so that when he returns, you can be prepared for him.
Who's the wise?
The people that are saved.
Who's the foolish?
Those that are unsaved.
And on top of that, when we just look at the saved, obviously those that are doing the
works of God are not going to be ashamed of the format that's coming.
But let's go, if you would, to 2 Thessalonians 2.
Let's go back.
Because he said to watch.
Now, if we look up the word watch in the dictionary, one definition says to look at or observe
attentively over a period of time.
Now, if we take that definition over a period of time, that would be the opposite of eminence.
If eminence is saying it's going to suddenly happen, watch is saying, hey, it's going to
be a period of time.
And in fact, the Bible teaches that the coming of Christ, there's a lot of events happening
that we can watch and pay attention to and we can attentively focus on and realize all
these things must come to pass, then Christ will come.
You say, do you know the day or hour, Pastor Shelley?
No.
I don't even know the day or the hour.
But you know what?
I do know there's many prerequisites before the coming of Christ.
Another definition of watch is the exercise care and caution.
Now, those that believe that Christ could come back at any moment, how much care and
caution do they have?
They have none.
They're just living up the dream.
I've heard stories, I've read articles, there's people, they sell all their possessions and
they just go and they get a tent out in the field and they're just standing and waiting
for Christ to come in the air.
This literally happens.
I bet that's going to be a long next few years.
I mean, just we're ready.
I'm waiting.
I mean, if you ask the world today, if you told the world like tomorrow's your last day,
they would go berserk.
They would sell everything.
They would party it up.
And the tendency for people whenever they think they have a short time is not to do
the right thing.
Some people think, well, you guys that teach a post-tribular rapture, you guys don't take
the work of the Lord seriously because if you thought he was coming at any moment then
you'd get to work.
You know what the reality is?
It only works for a very short amount of time.
If you think that Christ is about to come, you'll work really hard real quick but then
you'll burn out even quicker and you'll get done even quicker.
When I grew up in these churches, I remember being a young child and the preacher would
get up and he's like, you know, if Christ doesn't come this year, I'm going to be extremely
surprised.
You know, as an adult pastor preaching to me as a young child, I thought, man, I was
hoping I'd get married one day.
I mean, I was hoping to, you know, go get a job and I had all these expectations for
my future.
I guess throw those out the window.
It didn't actually make me have good plans for the future.
It made me just be like, I guess nothing really matters.
Let's just go play some more video games.
Let's go play some more soccer.
Let's go play some more golf.
I mean, it doesn't actually cause you to do the right thing.
You know what caused you to do the right thing?
Hey, your entire life is dependent upon your actions right now and you're going to reap
what you sow.
You should always be planning for a long future.
You should always be planning to continue to do the work of the Lord for a long time.
Why?
Because you know I need to have good habits now and I need to have long sustainable habits
and not be a Roman candle Christian.
Because I mean, look, if we knew Christ was coming out, coming tomorrow, we'd all probably
just go soul winning until he shows up, right?
I mean, but if we just start doing that in anticipation, we're going to burn out real
quick and then we're going to start believing the Bible less and the preacher less.
You know, and the pastor says, Christ is coming this year and it doesn't happen.
And then he says the next year it doesn't happen and the next year it doesn't happen.
You know what?
It discourages the heart of everybody in your church.
It's not good.
It's not godly.
You know, the got questions, this is a pretty popular site, they said this, there's nothing
more in biblical prophecy that needs to happen before Jesus comes again.
Nothing.
You know.
So I guess we don't need to watch for anything, all right?
That's the opposite of watching.
If you said everything's fulfilled, there's no more watching.
We're done.
We're just waiting.
There's an image between watching and waiting.
Grace to you, John MacArthur.
He says the answer to the question of if there's a tribulation before or after Christ's coming
is that there will not because the church is never asked to look forward to the tribulation,
but they are asked to look forward to Christ's coming.
So supposedly John MacArthur's wisdom is, well, it's obviously a pre-trib rapture because
we're not told to look for any tribulation.
Yea, in all that will of God, in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
Wait a minute.
The whole epistle to the second Thessalonians is talking about their tribulation.
We even have churches in the book of Revelation that are anticipating tribulation.
What a stupid idiot moron.
This guy doesn't even know what he's talking about.
You know, they say, they point to another verse.
They point to Luke 12, it says, be therefore ready.
They say, the be ready there implies eminence.
Now let's take this logic, okay?
If the book of Luke said that they needed to be ready and it implies eminence, when
was the book of Luke written?
2,000 years ago.
So were they supposed to be expecting Christ 2,000 years ago?
Were they supposed to be ready at that time when that was pinned down?
Stupid, idiotic.
That's not what the Bible is teaching, but we should always be watchful.
We should always be ready.
We should always be doing the work of the Lord, but you know what?
We need to look at what the Bible tells us about when to expect Christ and one of the
things that happens before is the antichrist being revealed.
Look at verse number 3, 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 3, let no man deceive you by any means,
for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be
revealed the son of perdition.
According to the Bible, what is the day that's not going to come?
The coming of Christ.
Look at verse number 1, now we beseech you brethren by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ
and by our gathering together unto him.
Some people will point to this falling away and say that's the rapture, but we already
had in verse 1 a proof that the coming of Christ is our gathering together unto him.
In fact, when you read 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, which is the clearest verse talking about
the rapture in itself, it says in verse 15, for we say unto you by the word of the Lord
that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them
which are asleep.
It says in verse 17, then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with
them in the clouds.
When it talks about the rapture in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, it's described as the coming of
the Lord and our catching up.
When we read it in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 1, it's the coming of the Lord and
our gathering unto him.
The Bible is perfectly consistent.
It fits together like a glove.
Why?
The rapture is at the coming of Christ, okay?
But that day can't come until there's a falling away and the man of sin is real.
So what does a falling away mean?
Well, some people then try to go back to the Greek or they'll try to do all kinds of things,
but if you go back to the Greek, it's even worse for these people because the Greek word
is apostasia.
Say, what's apostasia?
Apostasy.
It's not you getting caught up together in the clouds.
It's when you become a heretic.
It's when you fall away from...
You say, what does apostasy mean?
Falling away.
You say, what does it mean in English?
Falling away.
That's exactly what it means.
But you know what?
In order to fall away, you have to be somewhere.
So it's someone that's going to a good church and they fall away to a bad church.
It's someone that's got the King James Bible, they fall away to the NIV.
It's someone that believes salvation by grace through faith, and they get mixed up with
work salvation.
It's someone that, hey, they're living a godly life, they're going soul winning, they got
the drunkenness out of their life, and then they fall away to the bar.
They fall away to the world.
That's what it means, a falling away from something.
And it's just obvious.
I don't even need to understand Greek to know that's what that means.
Go to Luke, chapter number eight.
Let's let the Bible define itself.
What does apostasy mean?
The abandonment or renunciation of a religious or political belief.
Now when you ask me, hey, are we in a falling away, well, I think it would be hard to say
that there isn't some levels of falling away.
But how do you really quantify if we're at the great falling away, if we're at the falling
away of 2 Thessalonians, chapter two?
Because in my opinion, I honestly think that there's a lot of room for it to get worse.
I think the falling away can get much more severe than we already see it.
Now if you were to ask me 50 years ago to today, has there been a falling away?
Absolutely.
I mean, it used to be everybody's King James only.
It used to be that Baptists, I mean, if you went to a Baptist church, they would teach
salvation by grace through faith.
They would have a King James Bible.
They believed baptism.
They weren't so worldly.
They didn't just love everything of the world.
It was a lot more normal.
It was a lot more like this church.
You say, what are we trying to be like?
Them.
And we're just trying to tighten a few other things up that they might have been a little
off on.
But I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel.
I'm trying to be like the old churches.
I'm trying to do things the conservative and traditional way.
I'm trying to hold to the traditions that have been taught to us.
I'm not trying to come up with my own new stuff.
I'm just going to stick to the old King James Bible.
This Bible hasn't changed a word in the last 400 years.
Look at Luke chapter 8 verse 13.
They on the rock are they which when they hear receive the word with joy and these have
no root which for a while believe and in the time of temptation fall away.
What is the Bible saying?
Look, they believe in Christ.
They show up to church.
They get kind of excited.
Then they're gone.
You know what?
They're gone all the time.
And in fact, it shouldn't even discourage you.
It should just give you more confidence in the Bible that it's true.
And if you're a good person, you should say, you know what?
I don't want to be that person so I'm going to be faithful.
When I see somebody else fall away, I'm going to say, you know what?
I need to dig in deeper.
I need to make sure I'm not going to fall away.
I need to make sure I'm not going to apostatize.
I'm going to make sure that I'm not going to be a proverb and a byword whenever everybody
else is falling away.
You say, I don't care who else falls away.
I want to stick in church.
I'm going to use the King James Bible.
I'm going to keep going soul winning because you know what?
At the end of the day, we're all going to stand before Christ and you're going to be
greatly ashamed when you fell away.
Go to Matthew 24.
Matthew chapter 24.
Many Baptists today, many Christians have apostatized.
There is saved people today.
They're going to the non-denominational fund centers today.
They're using the NIV today.
They're so liberal and watered down, they don't even know what the word is.
And they become so laden with sin, so filled with worldliness, so filled with the carnal
mind today that they become unfruitful.
They produce no fruit.
The cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, they come and they enter into their
heart and they choke the word and they don't produce any fruit today.
And we see there's a great falling away.
Look at Matthew 24 verse 8.
The Bible says, all these are the beginning of sorrows.
Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted and shall kill you and you shall be hated
of all nations for my name's sake.
And then shall many be offended and shall betray one another and shall hate one another
and many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many.
And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
When I read this, I feel like we're in for worse times.
You know what, I don't have stories after stories of everybody in here saying, yeah,
my family keeps betraying me to the government, trying to turn me in.
They're not, you know, gnashing on me with their teeth.
They're not delivering us up to be killed as of yet.
Now there's certain parts of the country where this is true.
There are certain nations where it's illegal to be a Christian and their brethren will
turn them in and they will be executed by their government for believing in Jesus Christ.
Today, 2019, this week, people will be killed for the cause of Christ and because we live
in so much luxury, because we have so much fun and enjoyment and all the movies and the
TV shows and just Facebook, we just think, oh, happy-go-lucky.
We don't have to experience any tribulation.
That's why the pre-tribulation rapture is isolated to the United States because every
other nation, they look at us like we're idiots.
They think, what?
It's constant tribulation.
How do you think you're going to escape tribulation?
My brother just got killed yesterday for the cause of Christ.
They understand that it's foolishness, that it's a great deception.
But why would it be beneficial to the devil for America to be wholly deceived by this
doctrine?
We'll get to that later.
We'll go back to 2 Thessalonians 2.
So you say, the great falling away, are we in it, Pastor Shelley?
I think we could be at the beginning stages of the fall away.
I think there's good evidence and argumentation for that.
I could believe that.
But you study history, there's been other times where there's been great falling away
from truth.
The dark ages, a great time of falling away from the truth.
And you know what?
I think throughout history, there's always been a cycle of great exploits done for Christ
and then kind of a falling away, and then great exploits for Christ and falling away.
And so the Bible pairs the coming of Christ with another significant event that has not
ever happened before, nor will happen multiple times.
It's going to happen one time.
So that way, we really know what's going on.
We really know when it's going to happen.
You say, what's that?
The man of sin revealed.
Look at verse 4, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that
is worship, so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he
is God.
Remember ye not, that when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
And now ye know what withholdeth, that he might be revealed in his time.
For the mystery of iniquity doth already work.
Only he who now letteth will let until he be taken out of the way.
And then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of
his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.
Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying
wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness, and them that perish, because they receive
not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
So go, if you would, to Revelation chapter 12.
We see that the antichrist is coming.
The Bible gives us many statements about this antichrist.
He will declare himself as God in the temple of God.
Now that's important because the Bible tells us when that will happen.
When will the antichrist declare himself as God?
And why is it important to understand this fact?
Because we know it precedes the coming of Christ.
So before the man of sin is revealed, Christ cannot come.
You say, is Christ coming tomorrow?
No.
Is he coming next year?
No.
Is he coming the year after that?
No.
You say, what about in the future?
I don't know.
I know for sure it's not happening in the next three and a half years.
You say, how do you know that?
Well, we have a lot of events that have to take place before the coming of Christ can
come.
And it's important for us to know so we can watch.
You don't watch a TV show that you don't know is coming on.
You know the TV show is going on at 6 p.m. and you turn on the TV and then you can watch
it.
Otherwise, you're going to miss out.
And the pre-trib rapture guys, they're going to miss out.
And in fact, most people that are going to these churches are unsaved and they're going
to be tricked and deceived by this coming Antichrist, which is tragic.
Look at Revelation chapter 12 verse 7.
The Bible says, And there was war in heaven.
Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon fought and his angels
and prevailed not.
Neither was there place founding more in heaven.
And the great dragon was cast out that old serpent, called the devil, and Satan, which
deceiveth the whole world.
He was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
So we see the devil, even though he's being cast out, we get some descriptions of this
guy and we see that he's very powerful.
According to the Bible, he has deceived the entire world.
All of them.
You say, Oh, I'm more powerful than the devil.
No, you're not.
Not without Christ.
But we see the devil is going to be cast down to the earth.
You say, When is the timing of all these events going to take place?
What's the start?
What's the catalyst?
The devil being cast down from heaven.
That is going to be the catalyst.
Why?
Well, look at verse 12.
Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them.
Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea, for the devil's come down unto you,
having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.
Now what a shame that the devil knows what's going to happen in the end times, and Christians
today are confused.
We have the Holy Ghost.
We have the Bible.
God wants to teach us and to train us and tell us when these things are going to happen.
You know what the devil knows?
You know?
Are you going to be caught unawares when the devil tricks you?
Look at verse 13.
And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought
forth the man child.
And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness
into a place where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time from the face
of the serpent.
Now some parts of Revelation and other portions of Scripture, they can be a little bit hard
to be understood.
But I think if you slow down, it becomes very clear.
Now I kind of attached in your bulletin a little sheet.
And the reason why I did, because sometimes I think it's beneficial to just see stuff.
I'm kind of a visual learner myself.
But this is a chart that I'd made several months ago for Pure Words Baptist Church whenever
I was preaching through the book of Revelation.
But if you look at this chart, one thing I want to make sure you understand is this is
not a perfect timeline as far as, you know, number of years, hours, days.
It's more of a sequence of events.
Because there's certain portions of time in which there's a lot of sequence events.
And so the chart doesn't look crazy and you can actually read it.
This is actually broken into sequence of events.
Because the midpoint of this chart is actually at the abomination of desolation between five
and six, which is very far to the left.
So it is not an accurate reflection of time, but rather is trying to give you a sequence
of events so you can get these items wrapped around in your brain.
But you say, where is the devil falling down?
Well, that's before one.
The devil being cast down out of heaven is right before the first seal is broken.
Now when you read the book of Revelation, you can pretty much split it in half to understand
it.
Now the first few chapters, they kind of deal with things that are currently happening with
John and some of the visions that he's seen.
But then when you enter into chapter number four and five and you start going through,
it's going to give you a timeline.
And that's why when you look at Revelation chapter six verse one on that first line,
it kind of gives you a chronology.
And when you study the Bible, Revelation is very chronological.
The thing that's different about it, it's not really different, actually the whole Bible
is like this.
But the thing about the Bible is it'll give you a chronology and then it'll start back
over and it'll give you more details and it'll keep pushing the timeline forward.
So you kind of get a timeline from point A to B and then the Bible will kind of come
back to the midpoint and then it'll go to C and then it'll kind of come back and go
to D.
So every time you kind of regress, you'll end up pushing out further into the future
and getting more understanding.
And God gives us this on purpose.
But when you read through chapter six through 10, you kind of get the events through a certain
way.
And when you read chapter 12, it starts over again and it doesn't really emphasize a lot
of things that it already did, but it's going to kind of push things further out and give
perspective of the Antichrist himself.
And you know, some people, they study this and they call this Daniel's 70th week.
You say, why 70th week?
Well, for the sake of time, I'm not going to go into too much detail, but in the book
of Daniel, Daniel gets a vision about 70 weeks.
And in that time, he's told that there's going to be a period of seven weeks and a
period of 62 weeks, and then there's going to be a separate week in the future.
Now, we know that the first two were for the temple being built and then Christ coming,
but then the final week is going to be Christ's second coming.
Now there's spaces of time in between these period of weeks, but a week in the Bible is
often symbolized as periods of years.
So we noticed that the last week would be a period of seven years, okay?
For sake of time, I'm not going to go into detail and explain why that is, but if we
know the midpoint of a seven-year calendar, what would that be?
It would be three and a half years, okay?
So let's make it plain.
Look at verse 14 of the latter part.
It says, when she is nourished for a time and times and half a time.
Now, if we take the word time and we assign a year, it's going to fit perfectly.
Because why?
It's one year, it's two years, and then a half year.
That would be three and a half years.
So the Bible is giving us this type of chronology.
Now, I like the way the Bible words things because when the Bible words things, it doesn't
matter what your modern vernacular is, you can always understand it.
It doesn't matter what your culture is, it doesn't matter what you understand.
If we understand a thing in years, there could be another culture or language that doesn't
understand the word years.
So the Bible uses time, why?
Because anybody can understand it if they're actually filled with the Spirit of God and
the Holy Ghost is revealing it unto you, okay?
So it says time and times and half a time.
Now that's three and a half year period, and this is from your first seal, okay, on your
chart to the abomination of desolation.
Now for sake of time, we're not going to really go into details of what's going on there,
but that's kind of what we're going to see.
You say, what happens in that period of time?
The first seal is a white horse, okay, and it's world dominance.
There's going to be a seal open and there's going to be world domination through conquest,
through great conquering.
The second seal is a red horse where there's going to be war.
You don't conquer the world by peace, you conquer the world by war.
And according to the Bible, there's going to be great world war in the second seal.
The third is food shortage.
Whenever there's war going on, the economy lines drop and there's going to be many food
shortages, and you know what happens when there's war and food shortages?
The fourth seal, the pale horse, death.
There's going to be a lot and lot of death in this period of time.
And you say, what's happening?
It sounds like the whole world's destroying itself.
Yeah, the devil is trying to kill the woman.
You say, who's the woman?
The woman is mankind.
Eve is the mother of all living, is what the Bible says.
So when it says that the devil's persecuting the woman, the devil hates you.
Why?
Because I'm saved?
He's doubly, but he hates all people.
According to the Bible, he hates every single human being.
He wants them all to be destroyed.
And when he realizes his time is short, he's going to go on full scale attack to kill as
many people as possible.
Through what?
Through world domination, through war, through famine.
And in verse number seven, the fifth seal is pretty much in coordination with the abomination
of desolation.
Now what's the fifth seal?
The fifth seal is the persecution of Christians.
And it even says, let's keep reading in our portion of scripture, look at verse 15.
And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might
cause her to be carried away of the flood.
And the earth helped the woman and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed up the flood,
which the dragon cast out of his mouth.
And the dragon was wroth with the woman and went to make war with the remnant of her seed,
which keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
So what happens?
The devil is going to try and kill the entire world with some great flood, but the earth
is going to help us and we will be delivered.
But because he can't destroy the whole world, he's going to target it in to Christians.
Now it says very clearly that he's going to make war with the remnant of her seed.
And you say, who's that?
It's the ones that have the testimony of Jesus Christ, those that are saved.
Now look at chapter 13, verse number 1.
So this, we finally reach the portion where the Bible talks about the guy going into the
temple of God, declaring himself that he is God.
This is that beast.
But notice that the sequence of events, the beast does not arrive until chapter 13, verse
1, does it?
And we're going to understand this later tonight when I actually explain it a little bit better.
But we see that the beast, he's going to rise up out of nowhere and he's going to have these
seven heads.
He's going to have to have these 10 corns.
And we see that the dragon is going to give me power.
Who's the dragon?
Well, the Bible told us that's the devil.
The devil is going to usher in his antichrist.
And at the midpoint of the 70th week, this beast is going to stand up and declare himself
to be God in the temple.
And once he declares himself God, well, you know, all these people that believe in Jesus,
they need to go because they're not going to worship that beast.
They're not going to give credence unto this beast.
We're going to reject that beast.
We're going to call him the antichrist.
And the Bible says in 1 John chapter 2 that we know that antichrist shall come.
That's the only time antichrist is ever mentioned in reference to this beast.
But it's saying it's going to come.
And you say, hey, the Bible never tells us to anticipate the antichrist.
Oh, 1 John tells you, hey, the antichrist shall come.
We know the antichrist shall come.
We know that the beast is coming.
We know that before Christ comes that there's going to be the man of sin, that there's going
to be the son of perdition, that he's going to be revealed.
Why would the Bible constantly tell us all these things if it's for the unsaved?
Right?
Because if all the saved people are out of here, how's the unsaved, the guy with no oil
in his lamp, going to understand this book?
He's not.
And in fact, when he reads this book, the antichrist is going to come whisper in his
ear and tell him that he's the real Christ, and he's going to believe it, because he's
not saved, because he was foolish.
And when he stands before Christ, he's going to try and knock on the door and say, I don't
know you.
It's a scary time for many people.
Now as we continue reading, let's read verse number six.
It says, and he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blossom his name in his tabernacle
and them that dwell in heaven.
So the antichrist is going to be revealed through a special event where he dies, okay,
but he's able to continue.
That's what it said in verse number five, and it said that it was given unto him to
contend you forty and two months.
Now unable to continue, that means you were doing something before.
So the antichrist is in control, the antichrist is in power, but he's going to die from a
deadly wound of a sword, is what the Bible says, to the head.
And the Bible says that by some special provision, the beast is going to ascend out of the bottomless
pit.
So I don't know how that works, but according to the Bible, the beast will return, and even
though he was dead, the Bible says, yet is.
And we see the whole world is going to believe him.
It's the gospel of the antichrist, the gospel of the man of sin, his death, his burial and
resurrection, and he's going to command all to worship him or to die or to perish.
It's the false gospel.
That's why the Bible mentions this in Matthew 24 as the abomination of desolation, which
was spoken of Daniel the prophet, okay.
Look at verse seven.
And it was given unto him to make war with the saints and overcome them, and power was
given him over all kindreds and tongues and nations.
Now that's some people, they're like, well, the antichrist, he's not going to rule the
whole world.
Yes, he is.
That was the first seal.
The first seal is a great nation coming in and taking complete world domination.
And at the end of that, you know what, there's going to be someone that rises up and is going
to be the supreme king, the antichrist, the beast.
And the beast is going to then die, but then he's going to declare himself God when he
rises again, and the Bible says the whole world is going to believe in him.
And look, everybody's heard a general story of the gospel or a little bit of Christianity.
It's not going to be hard for the devil to come in with all of his lies and say, hey,
I'm really the return of Christ.
I mean, think about it.
If everybody's anticipating a pre-trib rapture, what do they think is coming next?
Jesus Christ.
So if someone else comes with all kinds of lying signs and wonders, doing all kinds of
miracles in the heavens, declaring himself that he is God, you know what, they're all
going to be like, here he is.
Here was the coming of Christ.
And we need to get rid of all these Bible-thumping believers.
Where was the promise of his coming?
It didn't really happen the way they said it was, but look at this guy.
Look how awesome this guy is.
He's conquering the whole world.
And in fact, if I don't believe in him, I can't eat.
So motivation, right?
To believe in him.
Look at verse eight.
It says, and all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written
in the book of life of the lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Look at verse 11.
And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth.
And he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
And he exercises all the power of the first beast before him, and cause of the earth and
them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth, in
the sight of men.
And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles, which he had
power to do in the sight of the beast, saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they
should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, and the image of the beast should
both speak and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should
be killed.
And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a
mark in their right hand or in their foreheads, and that no man might buy or sell save he
that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
Here is wisdom.
Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast, for it is the number
of a man, and his number is six hundred, threes, four, and six."
So we see a very dark time in human history.
We see this great beast.
Now I've heard it said, and I probably even believe this at certain points in time, that
the beast will die and then the devil is going to inhabit his body, okay, that it's
just the devil pretending to be the beast.
But when we really look at scripture, I believe it's just the beast that actually rises again.
Now you say, how could someone come back from hell?
Well, when you read about the millennial reign of Christ, the devil is cast into hell for
a thousand years and bound up, but you know what God does?
He lets him out again.
To what?
Accomplish his will?
So I think it is still possible that the devil would send them strong delusion.
Now what's more strong delusion than allowing a guy to die and then rise again and to claim
himself as God and have lying signs and wonders?
Why?
Because God wants them to not believe.
God's going to give them as much reason not to believe as possible.
Why?
Because they didn't love the truth.
They didn't love his gospel, so he's going to give them the best false gospel possible
and they're all going to believe it and worship it and they're going to be damned to hell.
Now chapter number 14, we're not going to go through it for sake of time, but it introduces
the 144,000 that are sealed.
It talks about the lying signs and wonders and the mark and I believe the pre-tribulation
rapture lie prepares many unsaved people to embrace the antichrist.
Why is it dangerous?
Because they're anticipating somebody.
They don't really know what he looks like and when the devil comes, he transforms himself
into a minister of light.
The dragon is going to give him all kinds of power.
Not only is it the dragon and the beast, there's the false prophet with him and the false prophet
is saying, you've got to believe in this guy and we're going to cause an image to be made
and the image can speak and it can do all kinds of miracles as well, fire coming down
from heaven.
You need to get some oil in your lamp now because otherwise I would be deceived by this
stuff if I wasn't saved.
The Bible makes it clear that everyone would be deceived by these lies.
That's why it talks about strong delusion.
Look at verse number 9 of Revelation 14 though.
The Bible says,
The Bible says if you take the mark of the beast, you're damned.
It's not questionable.
It's not like, well, maybe there's a second chance, damned.
The Bible makes it crystal clear and it's a pretty strong proof.
A lot of people see microchips being put in hands and being put in heads and it kind of
gets them a little leery.
But you know what?
If they don't really love the truth, then they won't end up getting saved and they'll
end up taking that mark that they didn't think they wanted to.
Look at verse number 12.
You say, this seems really gloom.
It is so far.
It really is.
But why would God give us all this scripture if he didn't want us to know?
He's giving us this script.
You say, I don't like this doctrine because it's not as exciting as when Christ is going
to come after this service and we're all going to be singing and it's just joyful.
Yeah, but let's just face reality.
I'd rather, you know, be sober and true than silly and stupid.
Look at verse 12.
Here is the patience of the saints.
Here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.
Notice patience, right?
Look at verse 13.
And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die
in the Lord from henceforth.
Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors and their works do follow
them.
And I looked and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of
man, having his head a golden crown, and his hand a sharp sickle.
And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice, To him that sat
on the cloud, thrust in thy sickle and reap, for the time is come for thee to reap, for
the harvest of the earth is ripe.
And he that sat on the cloud, thrust in his sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped.
So finally we have victory through the Lord Jesus Christ.
And notice the Bible says, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth.
The Bible says it's a blessing.
We look at the tribulation and we think that's very sobering, very sorrowful.
It's kind of stressful if you really study the Bible, what's going to happen.
But the Bible teaches that this is a great time.
You could live in a life of just peace, but you could just be in the most peaceful time
and just die and be with the Lord.
Even eternity, when you're thinking it back, wouldn't it have been cool to be in the battle
with the antichrist, seeing the beast, you know, going out and doing great exploits for
the Lord.
I mean, are the Bible stories about people in time of peace?
I mean all the people we love, Daniel in the lion's den, right?
Noah in the great blood.
I mean we think of the apostles and apostle Paul, he keeps getting stoned.
He keeps getting shipwrecked and beaten, and you're like, if you were to just talk
to me and say, hey, do you want to be in the sea for 24 hours just trying to float to survive?
You really want to be beaten and, you know, whipped and thrown in prison constantly?
I would say no.
I'm not a glutton for punishment, okay?
But at the end of the day, the Bible says blessed are you.
And you know what, when I look at the tribulation that's coming before us, I don't look at it
with sorrow.
I think, you know what, that would be great if I have the honor and privilege to serve
God during such a troubleless time.
Then the time of the antichrist being revealed before my eyes and we have the Holy Ghost
teaching us the Bible and we can see scripture being fulfilled and fulfilled, what a glorious
time.
I would love to go through and see the Bible like that fulfilled before my eyes.
And whether or not it's going to happen, I'm going to work until Jesus comes or I die.
But you know what, it's not something to be sorrowful for.
The Bible says blessed and the earth will be reaped.
But we notice when the earth is reaped, did it say, well, it's going to be reaped and
then all the bad stuff.
No, it was like bad, bad, worse, horrible, awful Christ.
You know, that's the sequence of events that the Bible lays out and you say, I don't like
it.
Well, whether you like it or not, it's reality.
If I said on your way home, you're going to get a flat tire and you say, I don't want
that.
And if it's going to happen, wouldn't you want to prepare yourself before you drive
home?
Think, hey, maybe I should grab a spare.
Hey, maybe I should grab a jack.
Maybe I'd like to have some tools in my car to make sure when that happens, I can take
care of it.
But, you know, the pre-tribbers, they're like, now let's just jump in and go 90.
And then they're going to hit that tack and they're going to flip and roll and it's going
to be damaging.
Okay.
And then they're going to be like, I don't have a jack.
I wish I got a jack.
I wish I had a spare tire.
I wish I had something to prepare me.
Look at verse, go to chapter 15.
Look at verse 2.
You know, as soon as it's over, there is no more pain.
There is no more sorrow.
Christ will wipe away all the tears from your eyes.
If you're beheaded, it probably doesn't hurt that long, you know, if you think about it.
There's probably a lot of worse ways to go.
I mean, you might not even feel it.
You might be in so much shock, you know, blink a couple times and then, you know, you'll
be in heaven.
Look at verse 2.
And I saws that where a sea of glass mingled with fire and them that had gotten the victory
over the beast and over his image and over his mark and over the number of his names
stand on the sea of glass having the harps of God and they sing the song of Moses the
servant of God and the song of the lamb saying, great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God
almighty, just and true are thy ways, thou king of saints.
Now what happens after all of this?
Okay.
So if we look at our chart.
Okay.
Let's go back to our chart for a second.
Then we have the first five.
Then we have the abomination of desolation.
144 are sealed.
The earth and the sun are darkened and then Christ comes, okay?
Christ comes and we see that that's a very short space.
But we notice that there's a lot of gold or dark yellow on the latter side of this page.
Now we've been reading all this and it kind of makes you angry.
It kind of makes you sad.
It makes you frustrated.
See all this horrible stuff.
Well, guess what?
God's going to make sure they get what's coming to them.
And when you read the wrath of God, it is severe.
You know what we're going to be doing in heaven?
Rejoicing about it.
We're going to be so excited that God is going to pour out his wrath on all these wicked,
evil, reprobates and demons and demonic influences in this world, the spiritual wickedness in
high places.
I mean, Washington, D.C. is going to look the same through this whole thing.
Not one of them is going to go be with Christ.
And we're going to see God's wrath being poured on those people and we're going to be like,
look at Obama.
We're going to actually enjoy the wrath of God.
And you say, why?
Well, did you just see the suffering that we just went through and the suffering of
all your brethren and your family members and your friends and your church?
Chapter 16 goes through all the vials of wrath.
Go to chapter 16, but look at verse 15.
And we notice in chapter 15 we get the victory over the beast.
So when the apostle Paul is writing 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, he's not writing this to be a downer.
He's just writing it to them so they'll understand doctrine and they'll continue to do the works
of the Lord.
So they won't get distracted thinking that Christ is coming at any moment, that they'll
realize, you know what, there's a lot of things got to happen.
Let's just work until we start seeing those things.
Then maybe start paying attention to what's going on.
Maybe watching ourselves a little bit more carefully.
Maybe you'll show up to church a little bit more.
Maybe read your Bible a little bit more when you see all these things come to pass.
When someone's standing in the temple calling himself God, maybe you'll be like, hey, I
wonder what that sermon in Revelation was about again.
Where is that?
Look at chapter 16 verse 15.
So of course the Bible tells us to watch for the coming of Christ, but what is it that
we're watching for?
Well, you know what, we're not going to see the Christ coming.
He comes as a thief.
You know what we're watching for?
All those seals.
You know what we're watching for?
The man of sin being revealed.
That great falling away.
Why?
Because those are going to tell us when Christ is going to come as a thief.
We can have a good idea of his coming so that we can be patient and go through all the tribulations
and struggles in our life.
Most people go through great tribulations and struggle through their whole life.
And they're never going to see Christ.
And so we ought not sit here and say, well, I only want to go through till Christ is coming
or I'm going to change my life as Christ.
Just get out of your mind.
Just serve Christ and then watch.
And once you see these things become to pass, know that the time is near.
Know the signs of the times is what the Bible says.
Look at chapter 17 verse 8.
The beast that thou sawest was and is not, and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit
and go into perdition.
And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of
life from the foundation of the world.
And they behold the beast that was and is not and yet is.
And here is the mind which hath wisdom, the seven heads or seven mountains on which the
woman sitteth.
Now you say, well, how does the man of sin get an exception?
He gets to come back out of hell quicker.
Well, you know, he gets his recompense because he gets to go to the lake of fire sooner.
The beast and the false prophet, when you read Revelation, you know, 2010, the Bible
talks about two people already there.
It's the beast and the false prophet.
So even though they get these like special, you know, powers and whatever, they get to
be in the lake of fire for at least a thousand years before anybody else.
And it sounds horrible.
All right.
But notice in verse 9, it says that this beast, he's on the woman that he or there's a woman
sitting on him.
You say, who's the woman?
Well, if you want to learn who the woman is, that's for tonight.
All right.
But we noticed that the beast, he's on a woman.
And that's going to give us even more indication of when the Antichrist is going to be revealed
and when Christ is going to come.
So what did we learn?
Let's give a little recap, okay?
When is Christ going to come?
Well, first there's got to be a falling away.
And I believe that we're going to have the seals, we're going to have the great conquering,
the war, the famine, the death.
That's going to cause a lot of people to fall away.
Then we're going to have the man of sin revealed, what?
Through the Antichrist's revealing of the abomination of desolation.
And we're going to see the greatest Christian persecution known to man.
You say, from what perspective?
Not on an individual level, but on a global level.
Because there's been many people who have died the most horrific deaths on an individual
level already for the cause of Christ.
So for certain individuals, it's not like their suffering was going to be less than
ours, okay?
There's already been people that have been horribly tortured by the Catholic Church and
all kinds of other people throughout history, but it's just saying there's going to be more
Christians persecuted at the same time than any other time in human history.
It's basically a full-scale attack on those that believe in Jesus Christ.
And we see that this beast is riding on some horse, or some horse riding on this beast,
and then Christ will come.
So what we need is we need our lamps to be full of oil.
If you don't have a lamp with oil this morning, you need to get oil in your lamp.
We don't know when Christ truly is going to come.
We know it's not tomorrow.
We know it's not at the end of this sermon.
But you know what?
You don't know when the devil is going to lead you off into all kinds of wickedness,
and you're going to forget to put oil in your lamp.
And then Christ is going to eventually come, and you're going to be caught with a mark
in your hand.
You're going to be caught with a mark in your head.
So go to 2 Thessalonians 2, we'll finish with that, all right?
Why is this important?
Well, the Bible says in 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 13,
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, whereunto he called you by our gospel to the obtaining
of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
So we're not going to have to go through all this horrible stuff.
As far as believing in the antichrist and being damned, we're going to actually obtain
salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Verse 15,
Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught,
whether by word or by epistle.
Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God, even the Father, which hath loved us, and
hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts
and establish you in every good word and word.
Look, when we hold to this doctrine, when we hold to the correct doctrines of the timing
of Christ coming, of the antichrist coming, the Bible says that it should give us grace
and it should comfort our hearts.
Now what's the comfort?
It's not the comfort that we're going to go through great tribulation.
The comfort is that we will eventually receive salvation.
The comfort is that blessed is he that goes through these tribulations.
The comfort is that you'll get great rewards in heaven for all of eternity for going through
these sufferings, through going through these tribulations.
You know, some people are afforded ten talents, five talents, one talent.
The people that go through the tribulation, you know what they've been given?
Ten talents.
And I think if we were all honest with ourselves, we would say, you know what, I want to be
the guy with ten.
I don't want to be the guy with one, right?
You want the opportunity to earn more awards.
But you know what, when you get ten, it's going to be harder.
More responsibility, more struggle, more tribulation.
You know what, I would say, please God, let me have the opportunity to have as many talents
to be used for you.
To get many people saved and to do great exploits for you.
And I can be comforted because I know all of my works, you know what, I'm going to be
rewarded in heaven.
All my works are going to accomplish great things for the Lord Jesus Christ.
And in eternity, I'm going to be so grateful that I was established in every good work.
Let's close in prayer.
Thank you, Father, so much for your word.
Thank you for giving us clear doctrine from your word and telling us when these things
might be so that we could watch, so that we could be prepared, so that we could have our
hearts comforted by the victory that comes through you.
Through giving us the victory over the beast and over the dragon and over the false prophet,
I pray that we would just be sober and vigilant and we would make long-term plans to continually
doing the work of the Lord until the coming of Christ.
And that we would not cut away, but we continually warn people so that they could put oil in
their lamps and we could all be prepared for your coming.
In Jesus' name I pray, amen.