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.
God does not want us to be deceived. The devil is a liar and he knows how to use trickery to deceive the gullible.
In this passage Paul was speaking to brethren. The brethren of that time were not in the same position as we are today. They did not have the Scriptures in hand. They were still being written. There were no copies for all to have. However, the true brethren of that time had something in common with true brethren of today. They had the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit in them. They had Him to give them discernment and to help them to be able to see who was telling the truth and who was not.
There were many false teachers at that time, just as there are now. The apostles were still alive at that time. God gave them the ability to do signs and wonders. The purpose of those signs and wonders were to help prove to the people who was telling the truth. The deceivers and false teachers could only talk. Just as today, they could not prove their words were true. There are many deceivers today who try to trick people into believing they can do signs and wonders. They are frauds.
The issue in our text was the day of Christ. The day of Christ is in reference to the second coming of Christ in the clouds. That day is just around the corner. The only problem is we, those who are saved, do not know how big that corner is. We know that the deceivers are a dime a dozen and that they are plentiful.
There was a report recently of some 14,500 people baptized over a period of six months in 2024 in the northwest Amazon region of Brazil. These reports are being given by an organization known as the 700 club. The 700 club is not known for reliable Christian witness. They love the sensational. They love to make big boasts. They cannot be trusted to speak the truth.
One of the groups involved in this so-called revival is the Foursquare Church. They too cannot be trusted. They are deceivers who like to feed on the gullible.
Then just this week I received an email talking about 800 people getting baptized as part of the “Jesus movement”. That is another deceptive movement.
True brethren need to deal with the facts.
Paul told the brethren of his day that before the day of Christ arrives, there will be a falling away first. There will not be a massive revival in the lead up to the Lord’s return. There will be a continual hardening of hearts and a rejection of the truth. There will be a move towards sensationalism. The lost love a good story. They love to hear of “unbelievable” events.
What are the facts? As mentioned already, who is involved in these so-called revivals. Those involved are not trustworthy individuals. No one wants people saved more than God.
II Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
I know there will be people who will be quite upset with what I am writing here. They are people who have rejected the Word of God and they have built their lives on false teaching. They love that false teaching because it soothes their itching ears. However, it does nothing for their souls.
Together with the falling away that will take place, the man of sin will be revealed. He is also the son of perdition. He is the antichrist.
This man opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God. He will gain control through deception. He will be much more skilled at that game than our current P.M. Our P.M. has just been caught in a lie regarding the opening of the Gordie Howe Bridge. Even though he has been caught in that lie, he is still willing to stand in front of the cameras and spin a yarn that is convincing to the gullible. He is an antichrist, but not “the antichrist”. The hearts of the lost are being prepared to receive the man of sin spoken of in our text. That man of sin will push himself upon people and will declare himself to be God as he takes his place in the temple of God which he will have built in Jerusalem. He will do lying signs and wonders, and followers of groups like the 700 club and the Foursquare churches will fall for his deception. Of course, the Bible tells us that the man of sin will even be more deceptive than those followers expected. He will force all people to take his mark. He will declare that no trade, or business will take place unless the people have his mark on them. Many will bow to this evil man and they will accept that mark. They will be similar to the many who lined up to get their poison shots during the Wuhan virus debacle. The world experimented with that event and they found out that it was not that hard to get the majority of people to bow to their threats. There are people living with the regret of getting those poison shots now. The government refuses to compensate for their lifelong injuries they have suffered due to those shots. There are also many who have died from those poison shots and many more will die yet. Thousands of people are walking time bombs, not knowing when they will drop dead as a result of receiving those poison shots.
God does not want us to fall for the deception that is so prevalent in our time. The deception was already there in Paul’s day. It has not gone away. The fact is that when the true Gospel of Christ is preached faithfully, most people run from it. They are not willing to yield to It. We are living in the last days and people want their itching ears scratched. They do not want the truth. The Truth still sets the captive free.
To those who oppose the Truth, don’t shoot the messenger. Stop and consider what God has to say. He does not lie. You will never silence the Truth. You may silence a few preachers of the Truth, but the Truth is God’s. He loves you and does not want you to die and go to hell. He does not want you to live in misery now. He wants you to know His peace. His peace is available through repentance toward Him and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. That is the way of peace and blessing. Be sure you have that peace and blessing today.
Pastor Bartel