II Thessalonians 2:1  Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
2  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.
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;
4  Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
5  Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
6  And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
8  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:
9  Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
12  That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

One of the major flaws of many people is that they assume that since the Word of God is written on paper, it is not authoritative. I have met many people who argue that the Bible was written by men and thus it cannot be trusted. There are people today, as there were in Jesus’ day, who take portions of the Scriptures and twist them for their own benefit.
We see this same attitude toward the secular laws of the land in Canada and the U.S. The liberal mindset is designed to corrupt truth. That is what secular liberalism is all about. It turns everything into relavatism. Relavatism means there is no absolute law or authority. In a dictatorship the absolute authority is the dictator. As long as that person can hold the support of the army, he can rule. If the army turns against him, he is finished.
Our concern here is with the liberalism that has permeated the religious community. Jesus dealt with corrupt religious leaders during His entire earthly ministry. The apostles had to deal with corrupt religious leaders during their lifetime. In every generation, there have been people who have claimed religious authority, but have none. They are not men of God. They are heretics, but people will entertain them.
The Catholic religion was built upon heresies. There is no Biblical authority for Mary being a perpetual virgin and without sin. There is no Biblical authority for teaching that Mary is the mother of God and the co-redemptrix with Jesus Christ. There are Catholics who are quite ignorant of what their religion teaches and thus they deny some of the heresies of that religion, but they still hold to enough of them to condemn them.
Yesterday, the Catholic religion elected a new pope. In our opening verses we read a description of the popes. None of the popes fulfills the prophecy given in our text. All of them have the same character as the antichrist.
Every one of the popes have been an antichrist. They are all men of sin. They are wicked individuals. They claim to be the ‘vicar of Christ’. They claim they are a substitute representative of Christ on this earth. One of the men who was briefly part of the group of men who were considered for the position of pope was shown singing John Lennon’s song “imagine”. That song talks of imagining there is no heaven and no hell. That is completely contrary to the Word of God.
The world is quite excited that there is a new pope. It is important for us to listen to what God says about the man who is coming to lead the world in the greatest apostasy the world has ever had. As we see in our text, God is concerned that true Christians not be deceived. The world is living in deception. True saints have the indwelling Holy Spirit. He is there to guide the saint into the truth. We know from the Bible, that true saints can be deceived, but they cannot remain in that deception. They will be chastened by the Lord.
God tells us that prior to the coming of the antichrist, there will be a falling away. We can look back in church history and we can see a falling away right from the first century. Jesus addressed seven churches in the book of the Revelation. Most of those churches had some doctrinal problems that needed to be addressed and corrected.
The antichrist is called the man of sin, the son of perdition. The popes all fit that description. None of them are THE antichrist, but they all are forerunners of that wicked man. They are all heretics who have dedicated their lives to deceiving people.
The world is blinded by the god of this world. The news media did not waste any time announcing the choice of this new man. The president of the U.S. who claims to be a Christian, was very pleased that the new pope is from the U.S. The president is proving himself to be quite the fool in his second term. He began with quite a bang, but as is common with lost people, he is not able to follow through with his boasting. He is not in charge. He thinks he is but God is in charge.
The world is being prepared for this man of sin spoken of in our text. The popes are an instrument in preparing the world for this man. God tells us this man of sin opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped. The popes do this as well. Most U.S. presidents have gone to kiss the ring of the pope. In past history, the popes had quite a lot of power over the monarchy in England. That changed a bit when Henry VIII manufactured his own religion. That religion is of the same spirit as Catholicism.
The antichrist will declare himself to be God. He will demand worship from all people. The popes have tried to do this in past history. They have never succeeded because they are not THE antichrist. God has not allowed them to succeed in their evil plot. THE man of sin will succeed because God says so. God knows the heart of man. He knows when the hearts of men will be so corrupted that there is no hope for them. At that time, He will give the world their corrupt leader.
Everything is being prepared for that right now. It is a shame that so many professing Christians cannot see this. It is a shame that so much teaching in most churches is quite shallow and quite disconnected from reality.
The Bible IS the Word of God. It addresses all needs of man. It is our authority on how to live in any generation. Holiness is required of God’s people. That holiness will be an affront to those who hate truth. That number is growing with every generation. It is still important for true saints to take God’s Word as their authority.
We need to pray for the many deceived people who accept the lies of Catholicism. We need to encourage people to turn to the true God in these days of grace. Time is short. God is constantly reminding us of the fact that the end is coming. True saints are not told to climb some mountain and wait for the Lord’s return. We are told to continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and to teach all nations the truth. Until death or the rapture, there is a need for true saints to be active in telling others the truth. The true local church is just as relevant today as it was in the first century. Just because people are forsaking the assembling of themselves together does not make it right. The antidote to deception is to be immersed in Truth. God’s Word is Truth. Accept that and know God’s peace and blessing.
Pastor Bartel