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And it's pretty hard to come up with anything because it's so open and shut, it's just so cut and dried, just telling you that day shall not come, except this other stuff happens. How do you get around that? Well, they're always going to come up with something, aren't they? You're not even going to believe this. Here's what they say. They say, oh, well, the falling away, that's the rapture. That's what people are saying. I mean, I've heard it from a whole bunch of different people that say that the falling away happens first. When they hear first, they're like, well, whatever happens first, that's got to be the rapture, right? Because that's the next event on God's prophetic timelines, the rapture. So they literally say that the falling away is the rapture. Now here's a little tiny problem with that. Things usually fall down, not up. I mean, how could you call believers being caught up into the clouds? Yeah, that's the falling. Whoa! How do you fall up? You know, there's this thing called gravity that brings things down. So this is just the kind of nonsense where people are just grasping at straws to try to make something fit that just doesn't fit. They're just trying to jam that round peg into a square hole, so then they just get a drill and they just want to drill out that square hole and shove it, you know, just whatever they can do to make this thing work. It doesn't work. It's false. It's a lie. But they say, no, the falling away, that's the rapture. And you're like, well, how do you figure? How does that work? And they say, well, you know, if you go back to the Greek. And if you go back to the Greek, you go back to the geek, you know, he'll tell you. Some Dr. Fatbottom in some university is going to tell you what the Greeks. But here's the thing about that, OK? We shouldn't have to go back to the Greek to get the true meaning of God's word. Whenever somebody teaches you a doctrine that relies upon going back to the Greek, that's a huge red flag right there. Because the Bible here is translated into plain English. It's been translated over 400 years ago. It stood the test of time. It's an accurate, trustworthy translation. The King James Bible, it says the same thing in English as it says in Greek. And here's what I always challenge people with. And you ought to do this too. When someone comes at you with this, you know, well, what does the Greek say? Or let me tell you what the Greek says. I always come at them with this. Cat-la-ven-a-tay-a-li-ni-ka? And the reason I come at them with that is because they usually don't speak a lick of Greek. And so even you could just say one little sentence. You know, you could see, theta, theta, theta, speak to moto salvato? And they're just like, huh? They don't even know what you're saying. And then they'll try to lie to you and say, oh, well, that's modern Greek. I speak ancient Greek. No, you don't. You're a liar. You know how to open a Greek dictionary and look things up. And these people couldn't even order food in a Greek restaurant. And if New Testament Greek is so different than modern Greek, then how come 15 million people who live over in Greece today, when they look at a Bible, guess what they read? Mostly they read the old, you know, the actual Koine Greek. I mean, the Greek Orthodox Church to this day preaches out of the Texas Receptus, Greek text. I get emails all the time from Greek people living in Greece saying, don't listen to these liars who tell you it's a totally different language. I go to church every Sunday. And we read from the Texas Receptus. And we understand it just fine. But there's this fraud out there that tries to say that modern Greek and Koine Greek are two completely different languages. No, you know why they lie about that? Because they don't want to expose the fact that they don't know the language. And if they admitted that it was the same language, then they'd have to explain why they can't talk to Greek people. And then instead of being able to tell us, ooh, this mystical magical going back to the Greek and we find all these hidden truths, they'd have to admit that there's 15 million people who understand the language perfectly and that it's just like any other language. That's a magical language. It's just like English or Spanish or anything else. But they want to put it on this pedestal so that they can teach lies. They can teach lies because they talk in a foreign language that nobody knows that they don't even know. And then basically, they can deceive people that way. You've got to be careful with this stuff. That's why I know enough Greek and Hebrew to where when these people come up to me and start talking, Shalom, Hochflem, Yeshua, Yahweh, I can come at them with a little bit of Hebrew. And then all of a sudden, they get this deer in the headlights look when I actually start using conversational Hebrew with them because they don't know the language. And it's so funny how you can sit there and say, well, here's what the Greek really means. Like, you know more than the people who translated the King James Bible because you looked it up in a dictionary or looked it up in a lexicon or you took two semesters in college. The people who translated the King James Bible, some of them literally spoke over 20 languages. And when they translated the Old Testament from Hebrew, they didn't just know Hebrew. They knew Aramaic and they knew Arabic, which is very closely related with Hebrew. They knew all the surrounding, not just Hebrew, but they knew all the surrounding languages. They didn't just know Greek. They spoke 15 languages, 10 languages. I mean, these guys are in books all day. These guys were very smart men who were very educated, who had read just thousands and thousands and thousands of pages in Greek. But you think that you're just gonna turn all that on its head and say, unfortunately, the 54 genius scholars who translated the King James were wrong on this because my strong concordance said this. It's ridiculous. You couldn't even order food. You couldn't even get a taxi cab in Greece. And you're gonna tell us what it really means. So any time there's a doctrine that relies on going back to the Greek, you better run from that, OK? But anyway, back to what I was saying about how modern Greek and Koine Greek are the same language. Now, I'm not saying they're identical, OK? For example, someone from Australia doesn't speak the same as someone from America. But would you say that that's a completely different language? Of course not. It's a different what? Dialect of the language. OK, what about this? Do we talk the way they talk in the King James Bible in 2015 America? No. But would you say this is a foreign language? Absolutely not. It's just a different dialect of the same language. So obviously, there are differences between Koine Greek and modern Greek. But they are not completely different languages. Just to illustrate it for you, I bought a box of Greek flash cards, OK? And it had the 1,000 most commonly used words in the Greek New Testament, which is 80% of the Greek New Testament is using these 1,000 words. So I got the 1,000 most commonly used words. And they're arranged in order from the most commonly used to the least commonly used. So I took the 100 words that were the most commonly used in the Greek New Testament. And I pulled out a modern Greek dictionary. And then I pulled out the New Testament Koine Greek dictionary. And then I got these flash cards. And out of the first 100, 95 of them out of 100 were identical in modern Greek and Koine Greek. But you're going to tell me that's a completely different language? But this is the fraud that's out there of just trying to hide behind this. And the only people who teach this are people in America. Because I get emails all the time from these American professors telling me, you're totally wrong about the Greek. But I get hundreds of emails from people in Greece telling me that I'm spot on. So who should I listen to? Some guy in some Baptist cemetery or seminary? Or should I listen to people from Greece that are saying, I'm a Greek Orthodox. I go to church every Sunday. You are nailing it on Greek. You're pronouncing it right. You're saying, and so forth. So don't be deceived by this going back to the Greek stuff. Whenever somebody says, well, in the Greek, I just turn off. Shut them down. Unless their name is Papadopoulos. You know what I mean? And they are just fresh off the boat from Greece. Then I'll listen to what they have to say. I'm not going to listen to some American university guy who took a couple semesters of Greek. Tell me. But anyway, look at Luke chapter 8, verse 13, where we have another biblical usage of the term falling away. It says in 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 time of temptation fall away. So what are we talking about? A spiritual falling away. A doctrinal falling away. We're not talking about the rapture, are we? Nonsense. Because here's what's funny. They'll come at you with this thing of, oh, if you go back to the Greek, here's what they say. Falling away in the Greek, they say, is a departure. So because the Greek word here for falling away, remember this coming from the amateur armchair Greek scholars of America. They say, because the word falling away in the original Greek means departure, that's sort of like the rapture because we're going to depart, right? Wrong. Because here's what they don't tell you. They'll deceptively say, well, if you go back to the Greek, it's departure. But here's what they forget to tell you, what the Greek word is, apostasia, which guess what that is where we get our English word, apostasy. And what does apostasy mean? Departing from the faith. Turning away from the faith. Falling away from the faith. So what does falling away mean when we look it up in English? What's falling away mean? Falling away from the faith. OK. Departing from doctrine. Now look, that word apostasia is used twice in the New Testament. Here's the other time it's used. Look at Acts 21, 21. And they are informed of thee that thou teaches all Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake. And that word forsake is that same Greek word. Forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the custom. So what are they departing from here? What are they forsaking? Doctrine, customs of the Bible. So whether you read it in English or in Greek, guess what, it means the same thing. You're turning away from the faith. You're falling away from doctrine. And even if it were a departure, the Bible says that in the last days, some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. So trying to turn falling away into the rapture is to turn the Bible on its head, to turn the English language on its head, to turn the Greek language on. It's just to live in a fantasy land. No reasonable, intelligent person thinks that the falling away is being caught up into the clouds. I mean, how can we understand anything in the Bible if the Bible is that cryptic, where falling away means you go up? I mean, what nonsense. But if you would go back to 2 Thessalonians chapter number 2. I'm just addressing everything that they try to pull out here. They might try to pull out the ESV and show you, well, that's just that it already happened. From a text that's so corrupt that it's calling Joseph Jesus' father. A text that's so corrupt is removing the blood. It's twisting salvation. Or they'll come at you, well, the falling away, that's the rapture. What in the world? No, friend, there's no way around it. The Bible is clear here. That day shall not come, except the falling away come first. And watch this. And that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalted himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. This event is commonly referred to as the abomination of desolation. Now, in order to understand this event and learn more about it, let's go to Revelation 13. Because in Revelation 13, we see this event actually taking place. Look at Revelation 13. Let's start reading verse number 1. It says, and I stood upon the sand of the sea and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and 10 horns. And upon his horns, 10 crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard. And his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his seat and great authority. And I saw one of his heads, as it were, wounded to death. And his deadly wound was healed, and all the world wondered after the beast. Now, this is written in a little bit of a cryptic language, right? A little bit symbolic, and you're kind of the beast, the head, the horns. Well, let's put our finger over in Revelation 17. Because in Revelation 17, God explains this. Now, we're getting into the strong meat of the word here. This isn't exactly the easiest book of the Bible. This isn't exactly the Gospel of John. But when we read Revelation, it's designed to where we understand it. So it's not this unattainable book. It's not a book that's impossible to understand. You just have to take a little time and study. So let's just do a little bit of comparison between Revelation 13 and Revelation 17 and see if it all comes clear, OK? Revelation 17 says this in verse number nine. And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sitteth. And there are seven kings. Five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come. And when he cometh, he must continue a short space. And the beast that was and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. And the 10 horns which thou sawest are 10 kings which have received no kingdom as yet, but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. So if we look at the scripture in Revelation 17, we see that the seven heads of the beast are seven kings. And then when we see the 10 horns, the 10 horns are 10 kings as well. So obviously, it's without the scope of this sermon to sit here and go into every detail of Revelation 13. And we go back to Daniel and look at the beast and all these different things. But just to break it down to you in a simple way, the beast that rises out of the sea having the seven heads and the 10 horns is basically a great kingdom or a governing body or a world government, OK, that's going to rule over the whole world. And these horns and heads represent different people in that system and in that kingdom, OK? So we see here that the Bible is defining itself. It's telling you, hey, the seven heads here, they represent seven mountains. But then the seven heads also represent seven kings. And then the 10 horns represent 10 other kings. And these are 10 leaders or kings that will give all of their power unto the beast, OK, unto one man. So let's go back to Revelation 13 with that in mind. Keep your finger in Revelation 17 because we're going to be back there. So when it talks about him seeing this great beast with the seven heads and 10 horns, that represents the whole system, the whole governing structure. We already see this world government in progress in the form of the United Nations. That's the embryonic world government, OK? Now in chapter 13 here, it says, and I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death. Now what are these heads again? These are kings, right? These are leaders. So it says, I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death. And his deadly wound was healed. And all the world wondered after the beast. So the term the beast is referring to both the whole system and also to the individual man, the Antichrist. He's also referred to as the beast. Now what does it mean here when it says that he received a deadly wound, his deadly wound is healed, and all the world wondered after the beast? Well, look at Revelation 17 for the answer. Again, verse number eight, it says this. The beast that thou sawest was and is not. Now what does that mean, is not? Well, in the Bible, the term is not is used to refer to someone who is dead. For example, when they thought that Joseph had died in the book of Genesis, they said Joseph is not, OK? So it says here, the beast that thou sawest was, meaning he was alive, and is not, meaning he's dead now, he was alive, now he's dead, and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit and go into perdition. And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, remember we saw that in Revelation 13, they all wondered. Wondered means that they were amazed by it. It says they shall wonder whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world when they behold the beast that was and is not and yet is. Now what does that mean? He was, meaning he was alive. He is not, meaning he's dead, but yet he still is. What does that mean? He is not, but yet he is. Why? Because he's what we would call undead. To use kind of a crass term there, but undead, meaning that he basically died and came back. Now who is someone else who died and came back? Jesus, but here's the thing. Jesus wouldn't be described as is not, because Jesus is alive. Jesus Christ died, he said, I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen, and have the keys of hell and earth. This guy is not alive. This guy is not, yet he is. So what this is is a counterfeit resurrection. See, the real resurrection is Jesus. He was alive, he died, he was dead for three days and three nights, and then he rose again, and he said, I am he that liveth, and was dead, and behold, I'm alive forevermore. This guy is not alive. This guy just is, after he already died, and he still is not, in a sense, OK? He's dead, but he's there, talking, acting, and so on. Now you say, what in the world? It's a counterfeit of the resurrection. See, the devil is a great counterfeiter. So the devil, in order to have the Antichrist, is going to have a counterfeit of the death, burial, and resurrection. This guy is going to die. One of these world leaders, this great man, is going to die, and the devil is going to bring him back. Which is why the, but it's not really him, because he's dead. So what does the Bible say here? In verse 8, the beast that thou sawest was and is not, and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit. What's the bottomless pit? Hell. So the beast, the Antichrist, is coming out of hell. Does everybody understand that? So he died. So I don't want you to misunderstand, in Revelation 13, when it says he receives a deadly wound, and his deadly wound was healed, a lot of people would just read that as, oh, he got a deadly wound that would have killed him, but he miraculously survived. Listen, the whole world wouldn't wonder about that. I mean, there was a congressman down in Tucson that was shot in the face at point blank range, and everybody was just amazed that she survived, because it was a deadly wound, and yet it was healed. But here's the thing, the whole world's not wondering about that. They're not all worshipping her, and saying, who is like unto Kathy Giffords, you know? Who is able to make war with her? Why? But when somebody actually died, and then comes back, say, three days later, yeah, people are going to wonder at that, aren't they? And they're going to say, it's Jesus. It's the second coming of Jesus Christ. That's what they're going to say. That's what the whole goal of the Antichrist is. The term Antichrist is bound in the books of 1 John and 2 John. And a lot of people misunderstand the word Antichrist. The prefix anti, we think of anti as being against something. But in this case, actually, antichrist, the anti there means in the place of Christ. That's a different use of the prefix anti. It's a different prefix, the Greek prefix anti, in the place of, OK? So what we have here is a counterfeit of the Resurrection. Now, go back to Revelation 13. Revelation chapter 13, it says, and I saw one of his heads, verse 3, as it were wounded to death, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshiped the dragon. Who's the dragon? Satan. So they worshiped Satan. They worshiped the dragon, which gave power unto the beast. So what's powering this undead beast, this undead man? It's Satan. It says, and they worshiped the dragon, which gave power unto the beast. And they worshiped the beast, saying, who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth, speaking great things and blasphemies. And power was given unto him to continue 40 and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name and his tabernacle and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints and all the people that are already gone, according to the preacher of rapture. Who are the saints that he's making war with, if supposedly they've all been taken out? Makes no sense, does it? No. But it makes perfect sense if you realize that this happens first, before the rapture. That's why he's making war with the saints, because they're still here. And it says, it was given unto him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And power was given him over all kindreds. You say, well, where do you get this one world government thing? OK, what's the Bible say? Power was given to him over all kindreds and tongues and nations. Is that not a one world government? If you have one guy reigning over all kindreds, all tongues, tongues, or languages, and all nations, that's a one world government. And where did he get this power? In Revelation 17, it said it was from 10 kings who gave their power and strength to be. So these are 10 great world leaders that relinquish their sovereignty unto this one guy. And they give him their power, and they put him in power over the entire world. You can't just do that without first having the infrastructure in place of a world government, world currency. That's why we're moving toward that right now. And then it's all going to be ready. The stage will be set for the Antichrist to come on the scene for the world to already be consolidated to where 10 people can just sign that document and just put this guy in power. And the infrastructure is already in place for him to rule over the entire world. And then it says, verse 8, all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him. So remember, this guy is exalting himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped so that he is, as God, sitteth in the temple of God showing himself that he is God. So we see that here. He's being worshipped by the entire world. It says, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb, slain from the foundation of the world. Now it says in verse 11, 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 exercised with all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell there into 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. Now this isn't really that far-fetched to give life unto an image of the beast. This could be some kind of a hologram. I mean, who knows what this is, but the technology is there to create a lot of images that are alive and speak and so forth. But it says that he gave life to the image of the beast, that 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 600, threescore, and six. So with all that background, let's go to Second Thessalonians now. Second Thessalonians, chapter number two. When we say that there's going to be a one-world religion, what are we talking about? Everybody in the world worshipping the beast. That's a one-world religion. Not every single person, because obviously the saints aren't worshipping the beast. That's why he's going after the saints. But here's the thing. Buddhism is going to accept this beast. They're going to accept the Antichrist. Hinduism will accept the Antichrist. Islam will accept the Antichrist. And apostate Christianity, the false Christianity. Look, Roman Catholicism, folks, and other false branches of Christianity will embrace the Antichrist and worship him. It's only the saved amongst Christians who are not going to be deceived. The elect will not be deceived, according to Matthew 24. So what we see here is one-world religion, one-world government, reigning over all the nations, controlling the money, and so forth, and a one-world financial system. And we can see that already being put in place right now. So let's go to Second Thessalonians, chapter two, with that in mind. Because remember, those who believe in this pre-trib rapture, or a rapture that comes before the tribulation that can happen at any moment, they grasp at straws. And one of their favorite verses to use to prove beyond any shadow of a doubt, their pre-trib rapture, you say, show me a clear verse on it. They say, I got a clear verse for you. Second Thessalonians 2.7. Now, what's funny about this is that they pick a verse that's three verses after he just told us, let no man deceive you. This can't happen at any moment. This other stuff has to happen first. So I guess when they show people, they kind of have to cover up the Bible. Like, don't look at verse one through four. What do you do? I said verse seven. Look at verses six and seven. Don't let verses one through four confuse you, that tell you over and over again, it can't happen at any moment. But here's their clear verse, verse seven. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work, only he who now letteth will let until he be taken out of the way. I mean, case closed. I mean, it's right there, pre-trib rapture. It says right there, before the tribulation, the rapture's going to happen. Jesus is going to come back at any moment. Everybody see it? Oh, you don't have a Scofield reference Bible. That's the problem. Okay. Yeah, you have to have a Scofield reference Bible. You have to have this Bible with all these notes and commentaries that will explain it to you, friend. Now, I wouldn't, would you, would you base a doctrine on that verse? Would you base any doctrine on that verse and say, oh, this verse, I'm going to hang my hat, is it clear? Look, that's not a clear verse about anything. Now, it's a wonderful verse. I mean, all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine. But not every verse is a clear verse, is it? This is not a clear verse. This is a cryptic verse. This is a verse that's hard to understand because it uses pronouns, he. And you have to wonder, what do the he's refer to? So this isn't some crystal clear verse that they make it out to be. Once you understand the verse, it makes sense. But it's not an easily understood verse. The Bible says that there are things in Paul's epistles that are hard to be understood. So look what the Bible says. Let's back up to verse number five. He just finished us telling us, don't let anybody tell you that this can happen at any moment. First, the Antichrist is going to be revealed. He's going to be sitting in the temple of God saying he's God, okay? That's the context. Look at verse five. Remember ye not that when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now you 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 in them that perish because they receive not the love of the truth that they might be saved. Now, let's look at this and let's figure out who the he's are, okay? He is a pronoun and a pronoun has an antecedent. You remember this in English class? The antecedent is the word that goes before the pronoun that tells you what the pronoun is. It'd be like if I just walked into a room and without saying anything else said, he is a piano player. He is a piano player. It's like, well, who? You can't just come out with he when you haven't stated who it is. You always have to state who it is once, and then after that you can refer to him as he, I can say, Matt Adams is sitting in the front row. He is a piano player. His wife is named Shanae, and I don't have to just keep saying like, Matt Adams is in the front row, Matt Adams is a piano player, Matt Adams has a wife named Shanae. The whole purpose of pronouns is to not have to keep restating who you're talking about. Because we already know who you're talking about because of the antecedent. And the ante in antecedent means before. So it's something that comes before the pronoun to tell us who we're talking about, okay? So when we see the word he in the Bible, we can't just insert whoever we want. Just pick somebody that you want to insert and just stick it in there. No, no, no, we look for the antecedent, okay? Now look at verse six, first of all. Because we have a he in verse six where it says that he might be revealed in his time. And then we have a he in verse seven, he who now letteth will let until he be taken out of the way, okay? Now first of all, let's deal with verse six, because that's a little easier, isn't it? It says, and now you know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. Now, who's being revealed? We'll go back to verse three. 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. So who are we talking about being revealed here? Okay, and how is the man of sin revealed? He's revealed by sitting in the temple of God, exalting himself as God, showing himself that he is God. That's how he's revealed, meaning this. We will not know who the antichrist is until he does that. You know, you got seven guys here, you got ten guys here. How do we know who the antichrist is? It's the guy who receives a deadly wound. The deadly wound is healed, and he's declared to be God in the flesh. He's declared to be the second coming of Jesus Christ. He's declared to be the Messiah of the Jews. Think about it. That's how he's revealed. I mean, we're not going to know him when he's a teenager. You know, oh, this guy's going to be the antichrist someday. Let's watch him grow up. No, that's not what... He's revealed when he does what the antichrist does, okay? And that's why the Bible says how he's revealed. It explains how he's revealed in verses three and four. So it says, now you know what withholdeth that he might be revealed at this time. So something is stopping the antichrist from being revealed. He's going to be revealed when that person is taken out of the way, okay? So in verse seven it says, for the mystery of iniquity doth already work, only he who now letteth will let until he be taken out of the way. Then shall that wicked be revealed. Who's that wicked? The antichrist, okay? So basically, if we study this, the he that's being revealed is clearly the antichrist. I don't think anybody would dispute that. That's pretty obvious. So the question is, who is taken out of the way so that the man of sin can be revealed as antichrist? Who is being taken out of the way? Now those who believe in the preacher of rapture, they think this is like a mad lib where, you know, you just insert a noun. Who knows what mad libs are? You know, you just, give me a verb, give me a noun, give me an adjective. They think they can just put whatever noun they want in he, give me a noun. The Holy Spirit, that's what they say. Now here's the problem with putting the Holy Spirit there. Number one, the Holy Spirit's not mentioned anywhere in this passage, anywhere near this passage. So how can you say that he is referring to the Holy Spirit when the Holy Spirit has not been mentioned whatsoever? That's ridiculous. I mean, you might as well put Mickey Mouse in there if you're just going to put people in that aren't even mentioned in the passage, okay? But here's the other problem with that. Number two is that the Holy Spirit is God, so you can't just take him out of the way. I mean, think about how ridiculous that is. Yeah, let's just get the Holy Spirit out of the way and then we get, how do you get him out of the way? He's God. I mean, it's blasphemous to say you're going to take him out of the way. He's God. He's everywhere. Whither shall I flee from thy spirit? If I ascend into heaven, behold, thou art there. If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. God's Spirit is everywhere. So to say it's going to be rude, and here's what they say, well, the Holy Spirit's going to be taken out, and if the Holy Spirit's taken out, since the Holy Spirit dwells in believers, that means all the believers are going to be taken out, so therefore this is the rapture. I mean, it's a lot of logical leaps to say, well, the he is the Holy Spirit. Was there an antecedent? No, but just shut up and believe it because I said so, but anyway, the Holy Spirit is the he, and since the Holy Spirit's inside the believers, well, then, you know, we can't stay if the Holy Spirit's got... And look, I'm telling you, I've sat in a pre-trib church for five years where the pastor said about once a month, literally, when the Holy Spirit's taken out, I'm taken out, and that was pretty much the only teaching he gave on the pre-trib rapture. He never could prove from the Bible that it's pre-trib. He'd just say, you know, if you're calling Jesus a liar because he said it can happen at any moment, and when the Holy Spirit's gone, I'm gone. Amen, amen. It was just always like, when the Holy Spirit's taken out, I'm going to be taken out. So this is their big proof text right here. He who now letteth will let until he be taken out of the way, and he said, well, he who letteth, that's who allows things to happen, the Holy Spirit. That's not what let means. Let means to hinder, okay? This isn't the 2015 texting language definition of let, okay, where you let someone do something. No, no, no, this is actually letteth, which is an older definition, which still exists today, but let means to hinder, and it's parallel with the withholding. Now you know what withholdeth, you know, he who now letteth will let until he's taken out of the way. He's no longer hindering anything because he's taken out of the way, whoever this is. So they say, well, it's the Holy Spirit. If you look up the Scofield Reference Bible, it says, this can be none other than the Holy Spirit being removed, and he dwells in the church, so when the church is removed in the rapture, the Holy Spirit's being removed. Here's the problem with that. Number one, the Holy Spirit's not mentioned. Number two, the Holy Spirit's God, so you don't just remove him, and number three, if removing the believers somehow removes the Holy Spirit, okay, well, what about all the people that they claim are going to be saved after the rapture, that they call the tribulation saints? How are these people getting saved without the Holy Spirit? Can somebody explain that to me? When the Holy Spirit is necessary for you to be saved, the Holy Spirit is the one who quickens you and saves you. No one can be saved without the Holy Spirit. So to sit there and say, well, the Holy Spirit's removed from this earth, well, then how can anyone be saved? But yet they claim that all these people are going to be saved, and you know what? Here's the thing. There will be people saved after the rapture. After the rapture, there's going to be the 144,000, the two witnesses, and people will be saved through the power of the Holy Spirit, the only way anybody's ever gotten saved, through the Holy Spirit, who works through the word of God. So this teaching is ridiculous to say it's the Holy Spirit, and it's borderline blasphemous, like you're just going to take God out of the way. Yeah, get him out of the way. God doesn't just get taken out of the way. I mean, if God does something, he chooses to do something. Nobody else doesn't, you know, get him out of the way, as it were. That's a really weird way to talk about God. But anyway, you say, well, okay, well, then who is the he referring to then, huh? It's not the Holy Spirit. Well, who is it? Well, here's the thing. Pretty much any explanation makes more sense than the Holy Spirit. You know, anything. Here's the thing. Even if I didn't give you an explanation, it's still not the Holy Spirit. That doesn't just make it the Holy Spirit, because I don't have an, but I do have an explanation, because I believe this is talking about someone who's actually mentioned in the passage, believe it or not, that the he is actually referring to an antecedent, because think about it. Who is it? Just stop and think about it. We read Revelation 13. We read Revelation 17, okay? Who has to be taken out of the way before the man of sin can be revealed as the Antichrist and can rule and reign over the whole world? Here's who has to be taken out of the way, the human being, the man of sin himself, because that's who's going to be killed so that the other can take over. Think about it, because if you look at, let's look at some scripture to kind of understand this. Flip over to Luke chapter 22, because remember the Antichrist is called the son of perdition. Now, the reason that that makes sense is because the man of sin is mentioned in the passage. So it makes sense to mention the man of sin and then say he about the man of sin. That's an antecedent for your pronoun. But here's why I believe that the he who now letteth will let shall be taken out of the way is referring to the human being, the man of sin himself, so that someone else, another spirit from hell can take over his body, because remember, he is not, right? He's dead, but he's still acting and functioning and ruling. It's not really him anymore, folks. He didn't really rise from the dead. What it is, is that this guy is going to receive a wound of a sword. He's going to die, right? His body is going to be revivified with a spirit from hell, a spirit that ascends out of the bottomless pit, the spirit of Antichrist, okay, is going to indwell this guy and control his body. And this guy is going to live and breathe and function by the power of Satan. I don't believe that Satan can resurrect life. Satan is not all powerful. If you go back to Exodus, you'll see that when the plagues were being done, water is turned into blood, Pharaoh's sorcerers through the power of Satan were able to turn water into blood. Moses threw down his rod and became a serpent, Pharaoh's sorcerers were also able to throw down their rods and make them into serpents. Of course, Moses rod ate their serpent, you know, but they're able to duplicate it. But when it came to creating life, when it came to the point where Moses took the dust of the earth and sprinkled it and it became lice, lice is what? A living thing, okay? They couldn't do it and they said this is the finger of God. See, God can form of the dust of the earth man and breathe into his nostrils and he becomes a living soul. God can take dust and turn it into creatures, lice. The devil can't do that. The devil had no power to create lice. I don't think that the devil can give life to someone who's already died, okay? So it's a fraud. It's not a resurrection in the sense of he's coming back to life. It's just a evil spirit taking control of this guy's body and everybody thinks he's resurrected. Look, the real guy, the real soul is gone. He's out of the way, folks. He's taken out of the way. He's killed. He's murdered. It's a false flag. You know what I mean? They kill him. Take him out of the way so that they can use his body, you understand? Use his body to be the vessel of the antichrist, which is not the same person because that guy's dead. Now it's the spirit from the bottomless pit that has entered this guy and now he's the antichrist, okay? Now if you would, look at Luke 22, 3. It says, then entered Satan into Judas, surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the 12. Well, isn't it interesting that when Judas betrayed Jesus, the Bible says that Satan entered him and prompted him to do that. So he was what we would commonly refer to as demon-possessed, okay? Then over in John, chapter 13, verse 27, it says something very similar. And after the sop, Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest do quickly. And you don't have to turn there, but in Matthew 27, 3, afterward he comes to his senses, the human being, Judas Iscariot, and he brings the money back. He gives the money back. It says, I've betrayed the innocent blood. And they say, what is that to us? See thou to that. And then Judas goes and hangs himself, right? Because he's still a human being. He felt bad about what he'd done. But he did it because he was being controlled by Satan. That's what the Bible says. Satan entered into him. Now, he was already a bad guy. I'm not saying he's a good guy, okay? He was a bad guy. He was stealing money from Jesus, the whole ministry. He had the bag and stole from it. The Bible says he believed not from the beginning. You know, a Christian person who's a believer in Christ, Satan's not going to enter and take over their body, okay? This is a bad guy, but he was still human, okay? And he still had feeling of repentance there in Matthew 27, 3. He died and went to hell because he was an unbeliever. But we see that when he betrayed Jesus, Satan was controlling him. Satan entered into him. I mean, I just showed you in two different places. Now you say, okay, well, then why does this other guy have to die? Why does he have to be taken out of the way in Revelation 13? Well, number one, because the job that the Antichrist has to do is a much bigger job than Judas Iscariot has to do. Judas Iscariot, all he had to do was just betray Jesus, just, you know, go to the Pharisees, make a deal, give Jesus a kiss, done. Pretty simple task, right? Pretty easy to do. The Antichrist is going to be ruling over the entire world for 42 months. That's a pretty big job, not to just give to a person, but rather that the devil is going to make sure that he's got full control of this guy, okay, by basically taking over his body with this evil spirit that's under his control, okay? That's why all of his workings are through the power of Satan. But number two, the reason the guy has to die and to come back is because that's the only way to get the whole world to worship him, because that miracle has to take place that will amaze the whole world, where even the atheists who say, well, if you show me proof, I'll believe it, even they'll be convinced. When they see this guy die, deadly wound of the sword, and he's healed, and he's back to life, quote, unquote, life, they think he's back to life, he's really undead, okay? That's what the Bible's teaching. I hope I'm making sense to you tonight. But if you study Revelation 13 and Revelation 17, I don't see how you could come to any other conclusion but that this guy is dead and that a spirit from the bottomless pit takes over his body. So that makes sense when you think about the fact that somebody's got to be taken out of the way so that this guy can take over, you know, this evil spirit from hell. Now go back to 2 Thessalonians 2, and this is where people get confused. They get confused by this part where it says in verse 7, for the mystery of iniquity doth already work, only he who now letteth will let until he be taken out of the way. The now there, I don't believe it's the apostle Paul saying now as in first century A.D. I think he's telling the story, okay, about that, and he's saying now as in at this point in the story. Like, okay, the Antichrist is now revealed when this that happens. See, a lot of times the Bible will use the present tense about things in the past and future because it's storytelling. For example, it says in Revelation 13, he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right. So it speaks about in the present because you're in the story, okay, and there's a lot of places we could show that grammatical example. So it says for the mystery of iniquity doth already work, meaning at this point in the story, but he who now letteth will let until he be taken out of the way. Then shall the wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming. Now, that doesn't happen right away. That happens 42 months later because power is given unto him to continue 42 months or three and a half years. After three and a half years, the Lord's going to consume him with the spirit of his mouth and destroy him with the brightness of his coming. Even him who's coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders. Those are the wonders that the false prophet does where he brings fire down and so forth from heaven. And then it says, with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish because they receive not the love of the truth that they might be saved. For this cause, God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie, that they all might be damned who believe not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. Now, there are other theories here about the he who now letteth will let because not everybody buys into this crazy Holy Spirit indwelling the believers being taken out thing. Some people have put forth a theory that says, hey, the he who now letteth will let is Michael the Archangel, okay, which I think that that's actually a legitimate theory, you know, there's scripture to support that when you compare Daniel and Revelation, different things, Michael's part in the end times. I can see that theory, okay. One of the big problems I have with that theory is that he's not mentioned in the passage. No antecedent. Okay. That theory makes sense. So if somebody has that theory, you know, I wouldn't criticize that theory because I can see scriptural support for it. I believe that it makes more sense, though, that the he who now letteth will let is the man of sin, the human being, so that the beast can be revealed, so that the antichrist can be revealed, which is a spirit from hell and is not a human being because the human being is taken out of the way, frankly, so that this guy can take over the reigns of the world government. But it says here that they will believe a lie. And it says in verse 10, because they receive not the love of the truth. Now, what does it mean when it says they didn't receive the love of the truth? Well, what it means is that there are people who love the truth and people who don't love the truth. There are some people who don't care what the truth is. You can show people the truth till you're blue in the face and they just won't accept it. They don't even care. They want to believe a lie. They want to believe that which is false. Then there are other people who love the truth and they just want the truth. They don't really care what the truth is. They just want to know what it is and believe it. And when you show them that they're wrong, they're willing to change because they love the truth. And whatever the truth is, they want to know it. They love it. But there are people who receive not the love of the truth and they believe not the gospel. And the Bible says in verse 11, for this cause, God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie. Now, this is nothing new in the Bible. There are all kinds of places in the Bible where God hardens people's heart. God darkens their eyes, blinds their mind. There are all kinds of scriptures where it gets too late for people to be saved and they become what the Bible calls a reprobate. And people don't want to accept this doctrine today, but it's all through the Bible. Tons of places. Here God is sending people a strong delusion. Now, it's not that God just hates people for no reason and just sends them a delusion and just damns them to hell just for no reason. No, these are people who receive not the love of the truth. These are people who've already rejected the truth, so he sends them a strong delusion that they believe the lies of the Antichrist. So basically when the Antichrist comes along, you say, well, how is the whole world going to believe on him? Because God's going to send a strong delusion on the people who did not believe the truth. And who received not the love of the truth and had pleasure and unrighteousness. God will send them a strong delusion that they'll believe a lie. That's what the Bible says. That they all might be damned who believe not the truth, but had pleasure and unrighteousness. They didn't love the truth. They took pleasure in lies. They took pleasure in that which is wrong, that which is false, that which is wicked. And it says, but, verse 13, we're bound to give thanks all way to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord. Because God from the beginning has chosen you to salvation through sanctification and belief of the truth, whereunto he called you by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word or our epistle. Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God, even our 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 work. First of all, the Bible says here in verse number 14, whereunto he called you by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. That reminds me of literally just about an hour and a half ago when I was out knocking doors soul winning. We talked to this guy and he was saved. He gave us the right testimony of salvation through faith. He said he believed on Christ and that, you know, he didn't believe he could lose your salvation. He didn't believe it was by works. He thought it was all finished by the blood of Jesus on the cross. But he had this attitude of, well, you know, whoever's going to get saved is going to get saved no matter what we do. And he kept focusing on how, well, you know, God calls people, God's doing the drawing and God draws people onto him. And so you can go out and knock all these doors, he said. But at the end of the day, the same amount of people are going to get saved, whether you go out and do it or not. And I told him, I said, well, I wouldn't even be here then. Why would I? He said, well, you do it out of obedience. And I'm thinking to myself, yeah, when was the last time you knocked the door, buddy? He's going to some big mega church liberal fund center. This guy isn't out knocking doors. He's talking to me about obedience to the great commission of go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. But I said, look, if I didn't think I was making a difference, I'd go out and do the minimum. I just go out, do a little soul winning, knock some doors, chalk it up that I preach the gospel and then enjoy life. You know, I do the minimum. But when we think about the fact that souls are in the balance and that people are dying and going to hell, the Bible says, and others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. You know, when I go out soul winning, I believe I'm pulling people out of the fire. Paul said, I've become all things to all men that I might by all means save some. He's not just going through the motions. He's trying to pull these people out of the fire, trying to get people saved. This guy, Oh, you know, God does the calling. God does the drawing. And they'll point out this verse where Jesus said in John, you know, no man can come onto me except the father drawing. But you know, what's funny is they never liked to talk about the verses a few chapters later where Jesus said, and I, if I be lifted up from the earth, we'll draw all men unto me. So they say, well, nobody can come unless the father draw him. And he said, this spake he signifying what manner of death he should die. So when he said, if I be lifted up from the earth, he's talking about being lifted up on the cross. He said, I'll draw all men unto me. And the Bible says here that God called, doesn't it? In second Thessalonians chapter two, but it says in verse 14, where unto he called you by our gospel. You see that? Yeah. God's calling through our gospel. How's God calling when we go out with the word of God as ambassadors for Christ, where God has committed unto us the ministry of reconciliation and God is sending us forth as ambassadors for Christ, he says, you are the light of the world, you are the salt of the earth. And when we show up with the word of life and the word of God and we preach the gospel, God calls through that. The Bible says that when the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. And when a preacher, which isn't just a pastor, but just any man, woman, boy, or girl who talks to someone about Jesus and opens their mouth to preach the gospel, when they preach that word, God's calling. That's God calling. That's God on the phone calling you saying, be ye reconciled to God. It says, we beseech you in Christ's stead, be reconciled to God. We're there as messengers from God. God's calling and he's using us to make the call. I mean, this is clear. He called you by our gospel. He says to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. And he said, well, but verse 13 says God chooses. It's not saying that God chooses which people will be saved. It says God from the beginning, chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit and believe the truth. He chose all that would believe. He chose us to be found in him if we believe in Jesus Christ. Look up all the verses about God choosing and about predestination. Look up Romans 8. Yeah, we're predestined according to the foreknowledge of God. God knows who will believe on him. In Ephesians 1, yeah, he chose us to be glorified with him. He chose us in Romans 8 to be conformed to the image of his son. It's not saying he chooses which ones will be saved. It's that he chooses that those who believe will be saved. And he chooses that those who believe will not only be saved, but that they'll be sanctified and that they will be conformed to the image of Christ and they'll be predestined to that glory with him. But to sit there and say, well, it's already predetermined who's going to go to heaven, who's going to go to hell, and there's nothing we can do about it. And then when we go out and preach the gospel, we're going through some kind of an exercise and that we're not really making a difference in anybody's life, but we're just going through the motions. You know what? That's why people aren't going today, because that's what they believe. And as I was talking to this guy, I was very kind to him and polite to him, right? But you know, in my heart, I was thinking, you jerk, you're damning this whole world to hell with your stupidity. This world is not hearing the gospel because of people like you who want to sit around and say, oh, God's going to get it done on his own. No, he told you to do it. If our gospel be hid, it's hidden to them that are lost. And we're sitting there hiding the gospel under a bushel and saying, oh, well, you know, God's going to get it done. And then the guy said, well, what are you saying that all these people who've never heard of Jesus are going to go to hell? I think they're going to get a pass. You know what? Keep telling yourself that. Maybe that'll let you sleep at night when you don't serve Jesus at all. But you know what? I'd rather work and spend my life to getting the gospel to that guy who hasn't heard of Jesus. Instead of sitting around and coming up with some stupid, navel-gazing theology of, you know, well, if God knows everything and God already knows he's going to be saved, well, maybe it's all just predetermined anyway. I'm just going to sit around and have a Bible study and go way down deep and stay down long and come up dry. No, why don't you get out there and do some work for God? And why don't you do what Christ said and go ye therefore into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Why? Because he said you're saving with fear. You're pulling them out of the fire. It's not just some game that we play. And these same fools also believe this thing like you pray for stuff and you're going to get it anyway, but you just pray for fun or something. Or, well, you just pray so you can feel like you got your prayer answered. No, the Bible says you have not because you ask not. And they perish and go to hell because you go not. It's not all predetermined. It's going to happen anyway. Wrong. We write the book, my friend. God has given us the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Did he not say that in Matthew 16? Did he not say whatsoever you bind on earth I'll bind in heaven? And whatsoever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven? But then they say, oh, it's just God just makes all the decisions. Then why do you say choose? Why do you say choose life? Why do you say choose this day whom you'll serve? Because we have a choice. Don't buy into this garbage of, well, God calls and God draws and we just sit back on our lazy American rear end and let the world go to hell. No, it's false. It's a lie of the devil. He loves that doctrine because it gets all the Christians to sit around and not care. And I'll tell you, I told this guy, I said, you know what? I'll be honest with you, my friend. I said, I'm just being honest. If I believed like you, I would do very little for the Lord. I would just do the minimum. He's like, oh, that's not right. I'm just being honest. You know, and look, does obedience to Christ motivate me? Of course. Does my love for Christ motivate me? Of course. But you know what? That wouldn't really motivate me to go all out though. You know, but when you actually feel like you're making a difference, when you actually feel like you're accomplishing something, you know, that motivates you. I mean, who wants to play a game? Does anybody want to play a board game with me after church where the outcome is predetermined? We can spend hours playing. Did you ever play the game War? Who's played the card game War? The stupidest card game on the play. It's a card game for Calvinists. It's the official card game of Calvinism. You cut the deck in half. You give half the deck to one guy, half the deck to another guy, and you put down a card and whoever has the best card gets to take both cards. You pull out the next card. There's no thought. There's no skill. The whole thing is predetermined. The moment you cut the deck in half, the winner is determined. But you just go through the motions. Oh, man, you got me. Oh, I got you. You know, it's a game you play when you're like four. You play it when you're like five. And after that, you say, I need something where I can actually control the outcome. Just going to sit there and just play War. Stupidest card game ever invented. And you know what? Calvinism is the stupidest doctrine that anybody ever came up with. We need to go out and people need to be called to the Lord by our gospel. That's what's going to call them unto the Lord. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your word, Lord, in this chapter, Lord, a lot of great doctrine, Lord. And it's a deep passage. It's a difficult passage, Lord. Help us to study, to show ourselves approved unto God and help us to study revelation and put all the pieces together about these issues of the end times. But Lord, we also see in this passage a lot of talk about those who believe not the truth and they didn't receive the truth and we read about them being damned. And then we read about another group of people that are called by our gospel. So Lord, please help us to get out there with the gospel because people can't be called by our gospel if we don't have a gospel. If we're not preaching the gospel, nobody's going to be called by our gospel. And so Lord, help us to take admonition from that and to get serious about being your tool and your instrument to call people by the gospel. And in Jesus' name we pray, amen. Amen. Amen.